Calls For Law Change As Many Scots Carers Forced To Quit Job

Thousands of Scots carers have been forced to give up their jobs as a legal anomaly leaves them with fewer safeguards than their counterparts south of the border.

There are more than 660,000 carers in Scotland who look after a sick or disabled relative or friend. It is estimated they save the state £7.6bn a year.

But a gulf exists between the way the needs of carers are assessed in the UK, leaving many Scots forced to give up their jobs or studies as they try to juggle home commitments with their own interests.

advertisementIn England, carers have the legal right to remain in work or study, but in Scotland social services only have to “consider” these needs when assessing the level of care required.

As a result, one-in-five carers north of the border give up their job – a figure which is compounded by unsympathetic employers and gaps in services offered by local authorities.

Carers Scotland submitted evidence on the issue at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday. Fiona Collie, policy and parliamentary affairs manager, said: “The difference in the law has potential to make a real difference. It’s about putting that into principle that carers should have the same rights as everybody else.

“One carer put it to me very succinctly. She said, I’m not asking for anything special, just the right to have an ordinary life’.”

Ms Collie added that free care for the elderly in Scotland had not actually led to a reduction in the number of carers and that local authorities needed to assess their needs more carefully.

“When people become carers it is a time of great uncertainty and at the moment there is an expectation that carers will want to give up their jobs.

“There is also an assumption that carers would be willing to provide a fairly substantial level of care, this is not always possible.

“We have found that one in five carers give up work, and that is down to lack of flexibility in the workplace and a lack of alternative services for carers,” she said.

Research in 2007 found that one-third of carers were in debt and one in 10 could not afford their rent or mortgage.

Those who left their job or cut their hours were, on average, £11,291 a year worse off. Carers can only earn a maximum of £95 a week while collecting carer’s allowance of £48.65 a week.

Ms Collie said: “We are putting to employers that if they lose a valued employee, there are high costs in recruitment. People who become carers are mostly in the 45-54 age group, and they are the really experienced people in the workplace. If they lose them, it’s a big blow to the business.

A test case at the European Court of Justice could set out a new legal protection for carers in the workplace.

Under UK law, disability discrimination laws apply to disabled persons themselves but the advocate general, the senior law officer of the European Court of Justice, has agreed that “discrimination by association” is unlawful. The case was brought by Sharon Coleman, a legal secretary at a London law firm, who alleges that she was treated less favourably in the workplace because she took time off to care for her disabled son.

Carers Scotland has worked with a number of firms, including BT, to promote the benefits of flexible working for those with demands at home. Carers are now legally allowed to ask for flexible working plans from their employer, under working families laws.

Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: “All our research points to increased productivity, averaging 20%, reduced overheads and enhanced recruitment and retention. People want to work for you and they want to stay.”

Margaret Mitchell MSP, who chairs the Equal Opportunities Committee at Holyrood said: “There is an army of carers in Scotland who may not be getting the support they need.

“We will be suggesting a number of improvements. A couple of ideas include a minimum respite period for carers and an annual MoT for carers. We will be looking at all the options over time.”