Long-term savings and retirement organisation Phoenix Group, which employs around 8,000 people, was recognised as a Carer Positive Exemplary Employer in 2020 for the support it provides to its working carers.
Ensuring that employees are supported is important to the organisation. Claire Hawkins, director of corporate affairs and investor relations at Phoenix Group, says: “People have real lives and many will have caring responsibilities at some point. We want to enable our employees to feel they can look after their loved ones without worrying that it might affect their income or career.”
To do this, the group offers a number of benefits for working carers. As well as 10 days’ paid carers leave, and a further five days’ unpaid, one of the nine employee networks it has put in place is for carers. “Our carers network is colleague-led and provides a relaxed, informal space for anyone to get the support and information they might need,” explains Hawkins. “It could be putting someone in touch with a charity or offering them a shoulder to cry on.”
The network also runs regular events for carers, such as focus sessions on how to arrange a power of attorney or how to care for children with special needs. It also encourages as many people as possible to join. “Carers are split roughly two-thirds women and a-third men but we find that men are less likely to come forward, so we run sessions specifically for them,” explains Hawkins.
The organisation wants to ensure this carer-friendly approach permeates throughout its culture and runs a carers champion scheme to provide training to mental health first aiders. This enables them to support employees with caring responsibilities. “Carers can also experience more mental and physical health problems so we make sure they’re aware of all our health and wellbeing support including our employee assistance programme,” adds Hawkins. “It’s really important that we support our working carers and enable them to strike a balance between their caring responsibilities and work. Enabling them to stay in work is good for them but it’s also good for our business and our customers.”
