Whether you are helping out a friend now and again, have someone who relies on you daily or even care for someone at home, DWF wants all colleagues with caring responsibilities to feel confident and empowered to access support and find the right work-life balance that will enable them to thrive and achieve their personal goals.
This year for Carers Week DWF partnered with Carers UK to support carers with their responsibilities and wellbeing. This included an internal Lunch and Learn Session with representatives from Carers UK on what it is like to be a working carer, the law, entitlements and support available for carers as well as role models and allies sharing articles on their experiences and advice for working carers.
Over the last 12 months the DWF Carers Group has been working hard to develop the support available for carers including:
- Appointing an exec sponsor for the DWF Carers Group.
- Developing our Carers Hub – including support resources, details of our carers action plan and content such as how to talk about caring, carers and the cost of living and bereavement.
- Launching our Workplace Adjustments Policy with specific reference to caring responsibilities
- Listening sessions with members of the Carers Group to understand more about the challenges that exist for working carers at DWF.
- Launching a monthly communications campaign tackling different care related topics such as bereavement and flexible working as well as challenging topics such as ending caring responsibilities.
- Creating allies content to educate colleagues on the challenges faced by working carers and how we can support others.
Tamsin McCarthy, Global Diversity and Inclusion Manager said, "Every day DWF sees carers across its organisation exhibiting core DWF values, in particular Being Better Together. It cannot be overstated the value that carers contribute to our economy, communities and of course our families. We will continue to work with the DWF Carers Group to build on our successes in this space and to further explore ways we can support carers in the workplace."
For more information contact Tamsin McCarthy, Diversity & Inclusion Manager