Menopause and carer policies are introduced at Focus SB
At Focus SB we value our employees’ wellbeing and are pleased to have introduced new Menopause and Carer Policies to our comprehensive employee benefits and rewards scheme.
A topic recently debated in the House of Commons, the menopause is increasingly highlighted by the media and campaigners with October being World Menopause Month. In November 2022, we’re pleased to show our support for this important issue that affects many individuals and their families by signing the Menopause Workplace Pledge launched by the Wellbeing of Women charity, and introducing our own Menopause policy as part of our comprehensive employee wellbeing programme. Since we introduced our Menopause policy our managers have received training and spoken to employees about this issue, with access to our Wellbeing portal enabling all our employees to view our latest policies.
With a five year strategy from 2021 to 2026, The Wellbeing of Women campaign has seen more than 2500 employers sign the pledge, with high-profile supporters of the campaign including Royal Patron HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh and Ambassadors Baroness Karren Brady, Carol Vorderman and Dr Highat Arif, as well as Caroline Nokes and Carolyn Harris MPs.
June this year saw us introduce our Carer Policy to coincide with Carers Week 2023. The theme for Carers Week 2023 was 'Recognising and supporting carers in the community'.
Some key facts about carers:
- The most recent Census 2021 puts the estimated number of unpaid carers at 5 million in England and Wales. This, together with ONS Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland, suggests that the number of unpaid carers across the UK is 5.7 million.
- This means that around 9% of people are providing unpaid care. However, Carers UK research in 2022 estimates the number of unpaid carers could be as high as 10.6 million (Carers UK, Carers Week 2022 research report).
- 4.7% of the population in England and Wales are providing 20 hours or more of care a week.
- Every year, 4.3 million people became unpaid carers – 12,000 people a day (Petrillo and Bennett, 2022).
- 59% of unpaid carers are women (Census 2021). Women are more likely to become carers and to provide more hours of unpaid care than men. More women than men provide high intensity care at ages when they would expect to be in paid work (Petrillo and Bennett, 2022)
- One in seven carers in the UK are juggling work and care (Carers UK, Juggling Work and Care, 2019).
- Between 2010-2020, people aged 46-65 were the largest age group to become unpaid carers. 41% of people who became unpaid carers were in this age group (Petrillo and Bennett, 2022).
Periodically our HR & Customer Aftercare Manager Jo Cloute posts health awareness information for employees on our communal notice boards and sends emails on current health topics to highlight the latest information. We’ve also published some of our policies to our Careers page.
Employers can sign the Wellbeing of Women charity Menopause Workplace Pledge here: https://www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk/menopause-workplace-pledge/employer/
and support events here: https://www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk/events/.
The next Carers Week is 10-16 June 2024 https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/our-campaigns/carers-week/.
Please find useful web links below.
