What Does an Informal Carer do?

An informal carer is someone who takes on the responsibility of looking after someone, likely with additional needs, without any form of remuneration for their services. They are likely to be people with family members (parents, grandparents, siblings and children) that they will look after, all the while trying to hold down employment themselves.

Effectively, they have two full-time jobs as a working carer, only one of which they are paid for; however, it will so often be their informal care responsibilities that have to take priority. That leaves them out of pocket as they may miss out on money due to having to take an unpaid leave of absence, as well as the businesses suffering from a commercial perspective as productivity is impeded.

The Role of an Informal Carer

Informal care is defined as unpaid care given to a dependent person by someone who they have a social relationship with. It comes with many of the same responsibilities that qualified care workers would be expected to undertake without any/much extra help.

Often, informal carers look after family members aged 65-plus, likely to be either parents or grandparents, but other scenarios are prevalent whereby they will look after other family members and/or friends who require assistance. This may involve assisting them with day-to-day tasks such as washing, cooking, and shopping, as well as transporting them to and from appointments.

Absenteeism and Presenteeism

Some responsibilities can be factored in around the working day of an informal carer, but others cannot, and often this results in the need to request a leave of absence without notice. For employers, this can be highly frustrating – especially if they do not know the person’s situation. Often, informal carers are not forthcoming with their situation and lie about their reasoning for requesting time off because they either believe their employer would not understand, or because they are embarrassed.

As well as times when a member of staff may not be present because they have to tend to other responsibilities outside of the workplace, informal carers can also suffer from presenteeism. This could be because they are unable to focus on their tasks in the workplace as they are worried about who they provide care for, or because they are suffering from burnout from looking after them whilst balancing the demands of their job. Even though they are present, productivity and performance are negatively impacted.

How Employers Can Help Informal Carers

Informal carers require the help of their employers to help them manage their responsibilities and this may mean implementing flexible and adaptable working patterns. In order for an employer to be able to do this, however, they must know what the situation is to be able to help. If an employee has not communicated this with their employer, then this only serves to make the situation increasingly more difficult.

Employers need to be able to pick up on when members of the team are not performing to their usual standard, especially in the case of presenteeism. Absent employees who are either constantly requesting holidays at short notice and/or calling in sick are a little easier to talk to as there is a clear concern for the employer. In a friendly and non-judgemental manner, a manager should seek to speak with the employee and discuss the number of absences they have taken. From there, a plan can be put into place as to how the employer and employee can work together.

All discussions should remain confidential, assuring the employee that whatever they say will only be discussed on a need-to-know basis. They may not wish for their colleagues to know about private matters, especially in cases where care is required.