Support for carers (Carer Forum)

Around 25% of Essex County Council employees carry out a caring role alongside their jobs. You are a carer if you look after another adult who is older, disabled or has a health condition or impairment or a child with additional needs. 

There is support available for you to help you balance your work and caring responsibilities.

Getting support

The Carer Forum

The Carer Forum is an employee network that provides support and guidance for carers. You can join the Carer Forum on Teams.

Get a carer's assessment​

One of the ways you can get the support you need is through having a carer's assessment. A carer's assessment is a conversation with one of our trained representatives. You can find out more about getting a carer's assessment on Essex.gov.uk​.

Carer's passport

Talking about caring responsibilities can be difficult and emotional, so one option may be to complete a carers passport form (DOCX, 634KB).

The carer's passport is designed to be a starting point for a conversation. It will help keep your manager and others you choose to tell up to date with your caring responsibilities and the support you need.

Once you have discussed the details with your manager, your carers passport can be uploaded onto your records on My Oracle. Select 'document records' and then add your carers passport as an attachment. 

Taking time off and changing your working arrangements

Taking time off for caring responsibilities

Both paid and unpaid time off is available for a variety of circumstances, including carers leave.

You may also be able to use other types of leave, such as dependents leave and compassionate leave. Find out more about the different time off options.

Workstyle personalisation

Depending on your personal circumstances, you might find you work better with some flexibility to your working hours or location. Find out more about making informal flexible workstyle arrangements to suit your circumstances.

Looking after someone guides

Every day 12,000 people in the UK become carers, looking after family or friends who are older, disabled or seriously ill.

The carer's checklist (PDF,150KB) lists practical in​formation for carers​, including money, advocacy, planning for the future and end of life care.

The looking after someone guides on the Carers UK website offers ​information and support for unpaid carers to make your life easier when you taking on caring responsibilities. 

Training for managers

If you’re a manager you’re encouraged to complete the Supporting Carers in the Workplace online training course. This will help you understand what the term ‘carer’ means and the support carers in the workplace may need.  

Get advice about managing work and your caring responsibilities

If you have a specific query about managing work and caring responsibilities, or if you're a manager and you would like to understand what support you can provide, you can contact the Carer Forum or People Support using the Assyst portal. You can also email people.support@essex.gov.uk or call them on 033301 35888.