Title - Working Carers
The county councilhas adopted the following version of a working carer:Acountycouncilemployee who spends a significant proportion of their life providing unpaid support to family in addition to their working role. This could be caring for a relative or partner who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or substance misuse issues.
The Working Carers Project was originally set up in 2004 and named Staff Carers. There were a number of staff information events to create awareness and publicity for the register and the number of registered staff rose to around 160 by the end of 2009. The scheme was available to staff working within the Adult and Community Directorate and plans were made to develop the scheme to include staff of all directorates. The staff carers scheme was renamed Working Carers, plans were made to develop the scheme and it was re-launched across county on 1st February 2010.
Aims of the scheme
Working Carers aims to provide support and advice around a number of issues relating to managing the balance of work and caring responsibilities.
The LCC intranet has a dedicated webpage which was made live to support the launch of the service; this webpage contains information and advice for working carers.
The webpage signposts the employee to the Human Resources department who can deal with queries relating to leave entitlement, flexible working and other employment issues.
The webpage offers information regarding other supports to carers, for example the Time For Me scheme, Peace of Mind 4 Carers.
There are links to various external organisations that carers could contact for support, as well as the contact details for the 7 carers centres across Lancashire should the carer wish to contact them for advice.
The Carers Team aim to organise 2 half day workshops each year which those registered can attend within their working day; this is featured on the webpage. When further plans are made as to dates and venues, the webpage will be updated and the workshops publicised.
The working carer has an option to sign up to be on the register on the sign up page. A downloadable form is included which can either be filled in electronically and e-mailed back to the Carers Team, or filled in manually and posted back.
Staff can also sign up using the Employee Services Online service which is available to all staff who have access to the intranet. By offering a number of different methods of signing up and receiving information, the Carers Team hope to appeal to a wide number of staff across the Authority.
When an employee registers as a working carer, they are sent a registration pack which contains useful information.
A communications plan has been drafted to identify how the scheme can be publicised; staff bulletins will be posted on the intranet, articles will be placed in publications aimed at staff and managers, the project's sponsor (a member of the Senior Management Team) and our Chief Executive will be mentioning the scheme in their blogs, and fact sheets and posters will be distributed to area offices to be displayed.
The Carers Team aim to develop a newsletter to be sent out regularly throughout the year in addition to other topical information which will be sent out when appropriate.
The project has involved the participation of working carers themselves via a steering group who have been able to offer relevant experience and opinions regarding how the service would best meet their needs. The steering group has met throughout the development of the project and will continue to meet to discuss planning events, targeting publicity in the future.
The Carers Team have worked closely with Human Resources as to the content and advice offered to staff via the webpage, and HR staff have been briefed about carers issues.
The Team are also working to make links with Occupational Health to further promote the subject of maintaining a good work/life balance.
The newly re-launched project will now apply to all staff, allowing LCC to offer equal services to staff working across directorates.
A worker is now in post who will have the main responsibility for the maintenance and administration of the register, ensuring details are updated and that information is sent out regularly. The worker will develop a communications plan, including planned publicity and staff information events; manage the receipt and distribution of regular correspondence, and carry out evaluation work to investigate further development of the scheme and identify areas for improvement.
Feedback from existing working carers has been positive; several have expressed that they are pleased that support is available for them to access. Those who have no prior knowledge of the scheme have been interested in what the scheme can offer them; at a recent publicity event at a county office the number of registrations increased by ten per cent.
Managers are identifying possible working carers on their teams and making them aware of the scheme; word of mouth has formed a significant proportion of new registrations.