Nottinghamshire: County council to introduce paid leave for staff with caring responsibilities
Nottinghamshire Council is to introduce paid leave for staff who have caring responsibilities for a loved one.
The new policy will extend paid leave provisions – which are currently available to foster carers – to a wider range of carers, including kinship carers, shared lives carers and unpaid carers and will enable employees with caring responsibilities to take up to five days’ paid leave in a 12-month period.
Councillors sitting on the governance and ethics committee approved the implementation of the carers policy at a meeting on March 4.
The council says the move underpins its family-friendly approach and recognises the important role its carers play within Nottinghamshire’s communities, as well as supporting the needs of employees with care obligations.
The council adds that it is already committed to supporting its dedicated network of foster carers by offering competitive allowances and specialised training packages and works to improve the health and wellbeing of carers as part of the joint carers strategy developed with Nottingham City Council.
Coun Wendy Lukacs (Ref), committee chair, said: “As a council we are committed to ensuring that the correct and appropriate policies are in place to support staff who find themselves juggling work with looking after someone with a long-term need.
“We know that caring for someone on top of their day job can be an isolating experience and place a significant burden on a person’s health and wellbeing, so I am delighted that this new policy will be implemented.
“The introduction of this policy builds on the excellent work this council is already doing to support our valued network of carers across Nottinghamshire – including foster carers and carers in the community – who are working tirelessly to improve the lives of others.
“The monitoring officer and I both believe that this new policy will add value to all those concerned.
“Nottinghamshire Council is – and always has been – proud to promote the rights of our network of carers and we want to ensure that we are supporting those within our workforce too, which further demonstrates our commitment to supporting our staff and ensuring that we are a good employer.”
The carers policy, which will be implemented on April 1, will apply to staff employed by the council and not workers, contractors, consultants, or any self-employed individuals working for it.
Its implementation comes after research was carried out with carers and teams, which has been used to propose a comprehensive approach to how the county council supports a carer.
The council is already recognised as being a fostering friendly employer through The Fostering Network and as a carer friendly employer through the Nottinghamshire Carers’ Association.