Carer awareness
Are your workers unpaid carers?
Most unpaid carers working in film and TV are isolated, often by choice. Carers do not share that they are unpaid carers with employers, line managers or even their colleagues.
Unpaid carers fear that they will be perceived as weak and unreliable if they disclose that they are an unpaid carer. Freelancers in particular find the fear of someone finding out that they are a carer a major stress factor.
Instead, carers choose to remain silent, attempting to juggle their caring responsibilities with their film and TV work.
Whilst many industry employers are becoming more accepting of marginalised groups and positively seek out these groups when offering job opportunities, the largest marginalised group, carers, remains invisible.
“Carers like me struggle to find the right balance in deciding how much to disclose to a potential employer and how to negotiate flexible working arrangements.”
According to a recent Carers UK report, 2 in 3 working adults in the UK are currently providing unpaid care for someone who is older, physically disabled or mentally ill.
“ It sometimes feels that being a carer, is being one of the last invisible disadvantaged marginalised minorities.”
We’ve heard many stories from our members who have confided in their colleagues and line managers about their caring roles after attending a Carer’s Club Zoom meet-up and consequently discovered that their colleagues and mangers are also caring for someone.
Most recently, we were told about an entire studio production crew who were all secret carers. They had worked together for years, each not knowing the other was a carer. Nothing subsequently changed in their workplaces when they ‘came out’ as carers. In fact, they were brought closer together, ‘a bonded family’ as their producer described it and are now more supportive of each other in their work and caring capacities.
As an employer, what can you do?
More often than not, unpaid carers working in film and TV have no choice but to give up work. Being forced to give up work, especially a job you love, can lead to depression, anxiety, addiction and interpersonal turmoil. It’s estimated that as many as one in five suicides globally can be linked to joblessness.
As employers and managers, you can end the culture of secret carers.
By exploring flexible and remote working opportunities, you can retain workers and improve the lives of the full time and freelance industry professionals you work with. Talk to us to discover how we can help you transform your workplace into a carer friendly workplace through our consultancy services.
As an employer, you have the power to introduce change.
You can spread the word in your workplace by starting the Carer Conversation.
You can create an environment where carers did not fear being exposed as a carer.
Carer awareness is growing, but it’s time for this conversation to become more widespread in the industry and for employers to provide better support carers. The Fiilm and TV Carer’s Club aims to expand this conversation and empower carers to become more visible in the workplace.
The Film and TV Carer’s Club aims to open up the Carer Conversation and we’d love you to be part of it. Contact us now to assist you in exploring ways to bring your secret carers into the open.