1. I need to take some time away from work urgently to take the person I care for to a hospital appointment.
Managers may grant between one and three days paid leave, up to maximum of 22.5 hours (pro-rata for part-time staff) in the event of a dependent suffering from a serious illness, mental illness, or injury including assault or personal problem. This could be increased at the manager's discretion to six days paid leave, up to a maximum of 45 hours, depending on the severity of the circumstances. This would be requested using a P5 form.
2. I need to help my mum to get up and dressed every morning - but my shift starts at 08:00.
If you are a substantive employee of the Trust, you can request to amend your shifts with a flexible working request. The application can be found on the HR Consult pages and once completed will need to be submitted to your line manager for review. Once reviewed, your line manager will arrange to meet with you and discuss your request, providing you with an outcome.
3. I am the only person who cares for my disabled partner - what would happen if I suddenly became unwell?
Look on the Caring Together website for information about their What If? Plan. The What If? Plan is to help you:
- Think about what if something happens to you or in the case of an unplanned event or emergency wherein you are unable to look after the person you care for
- Be prepared by identifying family, friends or paid care worker - someone who can be contacted to take over some of your caring duties
- Have peace of mind
4. My child has a disability and I will need to provide additional care for several weeks whilst they recover from a planned operation.
You will be entitled to parental leave which is unpaid up to a maximum of four weeks per year (pro-rata for part time staff). The request should be made to your line manager and a P5 form should be completed. Alternatively if you would like paid leave - you can request this using annual leave. Please note if you do not have enough leave to support this, you can purchase annual leave through our Annual leave Purchase Scheme or review a mixture of unpaid leave and annual leave.
5. My caring responsibilities are causing me to feel stressed - I can't concentrate on my job - who can I talk to?
You should discuss with you line manager and complete an Individual Stress Risk Assessment, this will be reviewed between you and your manager to agree actions and support to help. You can also suggest a referral to Occupational Health for an appointment, this is a resource of further support. We also have additional avenues of support of HealthAssured on 0800 0305182 and Chaplaincy.