Working Carers

Supporting our working carers

Our ambition is to harness the NHS’s greatest strength, its people, with the NHS Staff Survey indicating that 1 in 3 of our staff is an unpaid carer. Our Unpaid Carers Programme wants to ensure that working carers feel more supported, valued and listened to.

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A working carer is someone in full or part-time employment, who also provides unpaid care or support to a family member or friend who has a disability, illness (physical or mental), or who may need support in later life due to frailty, and they could not manage without that care or support. Supporting carers to remain in work by embedding flexible working approaches and effective support structures, brings significant benefits to both carers and their families, businesses and the wider economy. Find out more about how you can support your working carers.

The Flexible Working Act came into effect on 6 April 2024 and covers employees in England, Wales and Scotland. The Flexible Working Act is an act that provides employees and other workers with the right to request variations to particular terms and conditions of employment, including working hours, times and locations. Under the new regulations, employees will be entitled to request flexible working arrangements from the very first day of their employment. This includes requests for part-time, term-time, flexitime, compressed hours, and varied working locations

The Carer’s Leave Act came into effect on 6 April 2024 and will give all unpaid carers in the UK the right to take up to five whole days of unpaid leave for their caring responsibilities. Carer’s Leave can be used flexibly, meaning that it doesn’t have to be taken all at once or in whole days. People can take carer’s leave in half days or hours. How much leave you’ll get depends on whether you work part or full-time.

Watch the video below showing some of the challenges of juggling work and being a carer.

Working Carers Passport - guidance for managers and employees

The General Practice Patient Survey suggests as many as 1 in 5 patients are unpaid carers, the NHS Staff Survey shows 1 in 3 NHS staff are unpaid carers, juggling work with care, so it is more common than you might think. The aim of the Working Carers Passport is to help employees to balance work and unpaid care, to support their health and wellbeing and ensure they remain well and at work.

Employers are starting to realise the impact of caring on their own employees and their business. A growing number of employers in all sectors are running Working Carer Passport schemes as part of a wider package of health and wellbeing initiatives to identify and support carers and ultimately avoid losing valuable employees from their workforce.

The Working Carers Passport is a tool to aid organisations to be a supportive employer, helping to balance the employee’s unpaid caring responsibilities and need for flexibility with the needs of the organisation.

View the West Yorkshire - Working carers passport - manager and employee guidance

View the West Yorkshire ICB working carers passport template.

A generic working carers passport template can be found at carerpassport.uk

Details of the West Yorkshire carers organisationscan be found here.

Working Carers Passport - Lived Experience

Evidence shows that many carers across our workforce face a multitude of challenges. This can especially true if you are from an ethnically diverse community, have a disability or long term condition yourself or are part of the LGBTQ+ community. We want our health and care system to be a supportive environment for everyone and one that understands the needs of our diverse workforce.

Hearing from working carers about their lived experience to help inspire others, understanding what support is available and learning more about what the Working Carers Passport and how this can benefit you as a working carer.

Watch this video about Kez and his experience as a working carer.

Adoption of the Working Carers Passport launched in 2020

This was across the West Yorkshire system in 2020, with the aim of supporting unpaid carers who were part of the NHS workforce in West Yorkshire.
The General Practice Patient Survey suggests as many as 1 in 5 patients are unpaid carers, the NHS Staff Survey shows 1 in 3 NHS staff are unpaid carers.
All local hospital trusts were invited to join a central project team.
The outcome was to secure adaption of the working carers passport from all six acute trusts.
Adaption of existing HR systems and processes were essential to achieving a successful outcome
NHS England in their response to the pandemic highlighted the working carers passport as a key focus.
West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership introduced two new competencies into the NHS Electronic staff record system to enable employees to be identified as working carers and determine if they were holders of a passport.
West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts and mental health trusts adoption of the passport secured national recognition by NHS within their 2020 NHS People plan with the passport set to reach 56,000 working carers across the NHS.
Employee for carers membership was adopted by all six places.
Awarded a commendation for the HSJ Workforce Initiative Award 2021

Reviewing and further embedding the Working Carers Passport:

Plans are in place to review and futher embed the working carers passport across the West Yorkshire system. This will include engagement with the workforce to raise awareness, information for managers and working with system partners to promote the Working Carers Passport scheme.