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Your rights at work

Combining your caring role with work can be a real challenge. As a carer, you have additional employment rights. It is important to know what support is available if you are having problems juggling responsibilities.

Many carers who are of working age are in paid employment. Trying to manage both work and your caring role can be difficult, but the government is trying to find ways to make this easier.

The right to time off

The government has said that carers in paid work have the right to take time off to deal with a family emergency. Carers UK have useful information about this. Employees are also entitled to one week’s unpaid leave per year if providing or arranging care for someone with a long-term care need. 

Flexible working

If you need to combine work with your caring responsibilities, you could request a flexible working arrangement to help. Find out more here.

Looking for work as a carer

You may be thinking about starting work or returning to work once your caring role ends.

You may be unsure of what you want to do, or even what it is that you are capable of doing. It may help to first identify the skills you have. Think of what you have learned from being a carer. As well as paid work, this may include the tasks and responsibilities involved in being a carer, such as organising and arranging care support.

Think about any voluntary and community work you may have been involved in and identify any transferable skills you have built up during any job or activity (that you can apply to other jobs).

Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service can give you more advice on identifying transferable skills. You can also visit B&D Works, the Council’s free service to help Barking and Dagenham residents get a job, improve skills and widen job and career options, offering support online or in-person at our two community Job Shops

If you feel you no longer have the skills you once had, or you'd like to brush up on them, you may be entitled to fully funded vocational skills training, including National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), employability, English, maths and ICT. If you are receiving benefits, your Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will be able to offer advice, or you can approach your local college directly about accessing training.

Volunteering 

Many carers' caring responsibilities can prevent them from taking up work or force them into giving up work in the short or long term.

For carers who may have been out of the workforce for some time, a good way of reintroducing yourself to work, when and if that time arises, is through voluntary work.

Find out about volunteering in Barking and Dagenham