Almac Group joins Employers for Carers to further support working carers
The Almac Group, which employs over 6,500 people across the world has joined Carers UK’s business forum Employers for Carers (EFC), to enhance the support they currently give to working carers.
Almac, which is headquartered in Craigavon, is the first indigenous Northern Ireland company to join EFC, which provides guidance on how employers can support carers within the workplace.
According to Employers for Carers, almost one in seven employees juggle work with caring for older, seriously ill or disabled loved ones. The charity also says that without the right support, as many as one in six carers will have to give up work or reduce their working hours to care.
Dr Sue Bill, Global Vice President of HR, Almac Group, said: “Being the best employer is extremely important to Almac. We strive to foster a working environment and culture that is safe, inspiring and inclusive, helping our people to thrive both in and out of work.
“Given the multi-generational nature of our workforce, we know that many of our employees are juggling their work with caring responsibilities and it’s important we enable colleagues to do their caring role alongside their work.
“Being a member of Employers for Carers allows us to understand the impact caring can have and gives us additional tools and advice to provide even better support to our valued employees whether they need it now or at some point in the future.”
Liam Duggan, Senior Policy and Engagement Officer, Carers Northern Ireland, said: “We are delighted to welcome Almac on board as a member of Employers for Carers. Our purpose is to ensure that employers like Almac have the support to retain and empower employees with caring responsibilities and we very much look forward to further collaboration in the future.”
Almac has developed a host of practices and wellbeing initiatives across the business that support, develop and reward employees at every stage of their career.
This carers initiative also includes the launch of a carers toolkit which has been designed by our #All4health team to help employees define what it means to be a carer and how to access available support. A dedicated carers network will be set up to encourage employees to share advice and guidance with others and to help develop the business’s understanding of what additional support they need.
Main image: Liam Duggan, Senior Policy and Engagement Officer at Carers Northern Ireland with Dr Sue Bill, Global Vice President of HR at Almac Group