one in seven fear being sacked for looking after mum and dad

one in four care for elderly parents

With the social care system is in crisis, and one in four adults (24 per cent) picking up the strain playing a caring role for an elderly parent, only one in five (21 per cent) say their employer would be supportive of their caring role and has an HR policy in place.

workplace attitudes

When asked what their employer’s attitude would be towards them having time off work to help an ill parent:

37 per cent said they would be expected to take time off as holiday;

21 per cent believed their employer would expect them to make up the time;

16 per cent claimed their employer would not class it as a ‘family matter’ in the same way they would if it was their partner or children

13 per cent said their employer would regard it as absenteeism and they would fear losing their job

13 per cent claimed their employer would give them time off but it would be frowned upon

11 per cent said that their employer would expect them to hire a care helper or put their parents in a home to be looked after by someone else

caring pressures

The pressures were equally felt between men and women and between full and part-time workers, although fear of losing their job as a result of supporting elderly parents was most acute among lower income earners (16 per cent of those earning less than £20,000, compared to 6 per cent earning more than £50,000).

Karl Elliott, Director at engagewithyou.com said: “It is a disgrace in modern society that people who provide support and care for an elderly relative feel additional pressure and perceive potential discrimination in the workplace. The reality of demographic change in modern Britain is that more and more people are supporting elderly relatives and this issue is only going to get bigger.

“In the current employment climate there has been significant attention on the young but those in their 40s and 50s are having to juggle job security with the demands of supporting the extended family. This is a forgotten generation and employers need to wake up when it comes to the realities of individuals supporting an ageing population.”

We talked to the Sunday Express about this, you can read the article here.

Are you a carer in an unsupportive workplace? Maybe your employer is helpful and sympathetic? Join in our discussion.

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Page Comments

Some people use annual leave to go on holiday to Spain, some people use it to do a walk for charity, some people use it to decorate the house, some people use it to see to their relations. That's what annual leave is for. You can do what you want or think is important in your life. They're YOUR parents, not your employers. So give up some of YOUR time for them. They gave up their time for you when you were small, so do the same for them.

Peter Biggins (24/07/2012 18:03:28)

Thanks for your comment Lynne.

I'm glad you found the article useful. Good luck in conversations with your employer. This is a subject that is going to get more and more prominent and we'll keep highlighting the issue and looking to provide help and support.

If you haven't already, why not register us (www.engagewithyou.com/register) and we can make sure you're updated when new and relevant information is added.

Helen Smith , engage with you team (31/05/2012 11:03:55)

This has given me the opportunity to inform my employer of the increasing likelihood of people in their 40's and upwards taking time off work to care for parents. My employer is making me use up my annual leave to care for my parents.

Lynne Wilcox (30/05/2012 23:03:41)