Millions of people combine paid employment with unpaid caring responsibilities. They may be supporting a parent, partner, child, relative, friend or neighbour because of illness, disability, mental health difficulties, addiction or changing needs in later life.

Not everyone uses the word ‘carer’ to describe themselves. Many simply see themselves as a partner, parent, daughter, son or friend doing what needs to be done. This can make caring responsibilities difficult for workplaces to recognise until the person is already exhausted, struggling with attendance or considering leaving their job.

Others may deliberately keep their situation private. Shame, guilt, fear of judgement and concern about being viewed as unreliable or less committed can all make disclosure feel risky. Working carers can become skilled at moving between two very different worlds, managing responsibility and uncertainty at home while continuing to appear fully available and composed at work.

CareAware™ was developed to make this hidden experience easier to recognise, discuss and support.

The most recent Census identified 5.8 million unpaid carers across the UK. Carers UK reports that nearly three million carers aged 16 and over are also in paid employment, while 1.7 million people provide at least 50 hours of unpaid care each week.

The effect on employment can be substantial. Carers UK reports that 2.6 million people have given up work to care, equivalent to around 600 people each day. Its 2025 research found that 69% of carers who were employees had not been able to focus on their careers as much as they would like. Sixty-one per cent said caring had affected the type of employment they had taken, and 21% had accepted a more junior or lower-paid role that fitted around their responsibilities.

Caring can also affect health and wellbeing. In the same research, 74% of carers said they had felt stressed or anxious, 40% had felt depressed and 35% described their mental health as bad or very bad.

Employees now have a day-one legal right to take up to one week of unpaid carer’s leave during a 12-month period. This is an important foundation, but a policy or legal entitlement cannot, by itself, create psychologically safe conversations or give managers the confidence to respond well.

CareAware™ is designed for:

• People balancing employment with unpaid caring responsibilities, including those who may not identify themselves as carers.

• Line managers who want to respond appropriately but are unsure what to ask, say or do.

• HR, People, wellbeing and learning teams developing more consistent workplace support.

• Colleagues, workplace champions and employee networks supporting carers within their organisation.

• Small employers that may not have a dedicated HR or wellbeing function.

• Larger organisations looking for accessible learning and practical resources that can be used across teams.

CareAware™ helps organisations move beyond having a policy and towards making that policy usable in everyday working life.

The programmes provide a shared language for discussing caring responsibilities, practical guidance for managers, accessible learning for employees and tools that support more confident conversations and appropriate signposting.

Better awareness can help organisations identify difficulties earlier, respond more consistently and reduce the likelihood that employees reach crisis point before support is offered. It can also contribute to staff retention, inclusion, wellbeing and a workplace culture in which people feel safer discussing the realities affecting their working lives.

CareAware™ does not ask managers to become counsellors, social workers or experts in every caring situation. It helps them understand their role, communicate with care, know where their responsibility begins and ends, and direct people towards appropriate support.

CareAware™ has been shaped by Nicola Richardson’s professional experience designing and delivering learning for carers, managers, employers and support organisations, alongside lived experience of navigating caring responsibilities, services, assessments, direct payments, safeguarding and complex support systems.

The programme combines this real-world understanding with current evidence about working carers. It has been designed to be accessible, practical and immediately usable, rather than another policy document that sits unread.

CareAware™ begins with Essentials and will develop into a wider range of focused learning and workplace resources for working carers, managers and organisations.

CareAware™ Essentials is a practical foundation programme about working carers and the realities of balancing employment with unpaid care.

It is designed for working carers, managers, HR and People teams, wellbeing leads and workplace supporters. The programme brings the employee and organisational perspectives together so that caring responsibilities can be recognised and discussed more confidently.

The learning is short, accessible and self-paced. It focuses on real workplace situations, useful language and actions people can apply immediately.

Caring responsibilities are not always visible. Some people do not identify themselves as carers, while others avoid disclosing their situation because of guilt, fear of judgement or concern about being viewed as unreliable or less committed.

Managers may genuinely want to help but feel unsure about what to ask, what to say or where their responsibility ends.

CareAware™ Essentials helps close the gap between having a workplace policy and making that support accessible in real working life. It creates shared understanding before a situation reaches crisis point.

By completing CareAware™ Essentials, participants will be better able to:

• Recognise caring responsibilities that may not be immediately visible.

• Understand why someone may not describe themselves as a carer or feel able to speak openly.

• Recognise the guilt, pressure and conflicting responsibilities working carers can experience.

• Approach workplace conversations with greater confidence and care.

• Identify helpful and unhelpful workplace responses.

• Understand the boundaries of the manager’s role.

• Identify practical actions, workplace support and appropriate signposting.

CareAware™ Essentials includes:

• Eight short audio learning sections.

• A practical downloadable worksheet accompanying each section.

• Learning relevant to working carers, managers and workplace supporters.

• Reflective questions based on realistic workplace situations.

• Practical tools for improving conversations and identifying appropriate support.

The programme can be completed independently and revisited whenever the learner needs it.

The audio learning is accessed securely online through an individual login. Programme worksheets and practical resources can be downloaded for use alongside the learning.

Individual access is available directly through the website.

Team and organisation licences are available for employers that want to provide CareAware™ Essentials across a wider workforce. Licensing options can be discussed according to the number of users and the way the organisation intends to use the programme.