Flexible Working Arrangements for Carers

Submitted by tonyplant on November 11, 2006 - 15:18.

Depending on a number of factors you will either believe that flexible working arrangements for carers is the ruination of good business practice or you will think that it is a innovation that is long overdue. A lot of time and discussion has been spent in defining carer.

The definition of carer is an employee who is or expects to be caring for an adult who is either their husband or wife, their civil partner, or a close relation.

The employee will also fall into the government category of carer if they look after somebody who lives at the same address.

If you fall wihin that definition of carer, then you will have the legal right to request adaptable hours from 6 April 2007. Community Care, amongst others, is unhappy that the definition of carer is quite narrow. It is a little confusing, because by the definition that I quoted above, step-relatives are excluded. Blended families have been a social reality for some time and the omission of step-family members does seem to be quite striking. However, according to Community Carer, step-relatives are included.

It rejected calls from campaigners to apply the right, enshrined in the Work and Families Act 2006, to all carers, keeping to original plans to cover employees caring for a partner, relative or someone else living at the same address.

However, it selected the wider of the two definitions of relative that it consulted upon, covering parents, parents-in-law, adult children, adopted adult children, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents and step relatives.

I am sympathetic to the viewpoint that allowing a general friends and neighbours category would have led to abuse on a similar scale to the abuse of the disabled parking scheme. But I hope that step-relatives and other such social realities are included in the definition.

Back in 2004, Radio 4 carried an item about the need to provide carers with the same rights to request flexible working arrangements as parents of young children. It highlights the example of British Gas who granted flexible working arrangements to one of its employees to allow him to care for his wife, who had MS. The arrangement works well for him and his wife. However, it must be emphasised that although carers have the legal right to request flexible working, the business has the right to refuse it. Much will depend on the attitude of the employer and whether or not they espouse a carer's policy.

This is London carries an interesting item about Counsel and Care's report that calls for tax-fee vouchers to pay for care for elderly people.

It called for care vouchers for those who look after the elderly similar to the tax-free childcare vouchers that are already supplied to working parents. They would use the tax breaks to buy-in home help.

This would let three million carers stay in their jobs and provide vital extra assistance for elderly people to stay independent and in their own homes rather than institutional care homes, the report said.

This is an excellent scheme albeit I have a concern that the proposed value of £50 per week per worker would not purchase much care, unless there were a substantial number of wage-earners in the family. The charity argues that

In future employers are going to have increasingly to rely on older workers, many of whom will have caring responsibilities. A system of care vouchers could help employers to recruit and retain these workers.

As ever, there is the irony that tax-free vouchers are worth more to high-earners than they are to low-income workers and will provide more 'disposable income' to pay for additional care. It is also not clear that it will do much to reduce the plight of people who have currently given up work to look after a relative.

Carers' Allowance, is paid to those under the age of 60 who look after elderly relatives. But it is worth only £46 a week and is not paid to anyone who earns more than £84 a week.

So, all in all, although the new legislation looks promising, it will not necessarily be available to all those would need it. The voucher scheme does have some merit but it will not purchase much care. Nonetheless, it is good to see some progress in considering the needs of carers. What we need is a full, public discussion of appropriate provision for elderly people.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

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