Carers' policy - Co-op Colleagues

Here at the Co-op we know that some of our colleagues balance their work with caring responsibilities – whether for sick, elderly or disabled relatives, partners or friends. We want to support colleagues who are carers, so talk to your manager about your situation and the support you need.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked here or how many hours you work, this policy applies to all colleagues.

Crucial Bits

Most importantly, you’ll never suffer any disadvantage from telling us that you are a carer, so please tell your manager if you’re caring for someone. They’ll treat this confidentially if you ask.

Carers Leave

We recognise that there might be times where a colleague’s caring responsibilities require them to take time away from work. Where possible this should be arranged in advance to avoid any disruptions to work responsibilities. Where advance notice isn’t possible, managers should use their discretion to be as flexible as possible.

Colleagues can take a week of unpaid leave each year to give or arrange care for a dependent with a long-term care need. Key requirements are as follows:

A minimum of half a working day can be taken at a time
Leave can be non-consecutive; it can be taken as one week or half or full days throughout the year
If the request is for a half or full day the notice period must be at least three days. If the request is for more than one day the notice should be at least twice as long as the requested leave. Notice can be either verbal or in writing.

We’ll only turn down a request if it’s going to cause problems for the business - so talk to your manager to agree the arrangements. If we have to turn down a request, we’ll ask you to take it a different time. If we delay it, we will agree another date within one month of the requested date for the leave and we’ll put the reason for the delay and new date in writing, within 7 days of the original request and before the requested start date of the leave.

Things to think about

Flexible working might help you to manage your work and caring responsibilities - see the Flexible Working Policy for more information.

If you need a longer period of time off work to care for someone then a career break might be helpful - see the Career Break Policy for more information.

If you need time off in an emergency, this is covered by our Emergency Leave Policy.

If you have a caring responsibility you can ask to have a carers’ assessment carried out by your local social services department to check you’re getting the support that you need. We’ll try to agree for you to take time off work to attend a carers’ assessment. It might be possible for this to take place at your workplace, so talk to your manager.

If you need to make or receive urgent calls in connection with being carer, agree with your manager about having access to a telephone at work, ideally somewhere private.

If we can’t give you paid time off we’ll do our best to limit the effect on your pay wherever we can, like agreeing for you to make up the time where it’s possible, or agreeing for you to take holiday. We want your pay to be right, so this should be recorded as either Paid or Unpaid Carers Leave, as agreed with your manager.

If you need further support

If you have any questions about support for carers, please speak to your manager. If managers need advice they can contact Contacts - Co-op Colleagues (coop.co.uk)

You may need support in balancing your caring responsibilities. Remember we have a colleague support programme, which gives you access to a 24/7 colleague helpline – 08088 021 122. Rest assured this is a completely confidential, independent helpline which is free to access.

You can also contact Carers UK for free, impartial advice about caring on 0808 808 7777 or adviceline@carersuk.org or Carers Direct on 0808 802 0202.

We also have access to Care Concierge which is a confidential telephone advisory service provided by Legal & General that can help with understanding and finding later life care. You can contact them on 0808 189 3195 or via their website

The NHS social care and support guide website explains options and where you can get support if someoen you know needs help with day to day living because of an illness or disability.

Grocery Aid have a 24/7 helpline and financial grants to support carers. Check their website for eligibility at www.groceryaid.org.uk/finances/carers-grant