Summary: One in nine employees combines paid work with caring for someone with cancer, creating significant but largely invisible workplace challenges. These carers face unpredictable demands, emotional stress, and financial pressures, often without formal support. HR professionals have legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 and clear business incentives to address this through awareness, manager training, flexible policies, and wellbeing initiatives that retain talent whilst supporting employees through life’s most difficult moments.

Cancer is one of the most pressing health issues of our time. Cancer Research UK estimates that one in two people in the UK born after 1961 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime, with over 400,000 new cases annually.

What is less visible is the number of people who are not patients themselves but carers. An estimated 1.5 million people in the UK are caring for someone with cancer, and in any workplace at least one in nine employees will be combining paid work with caring responsibilities.

Why carers struggle at work

Caring for a loved one with cancer is rarely straightforward. It often involves unpredictable hospital appointments, disrupted sleep, additional household responsibilities, and the heavy weight of emotional stress. Carers may feel guilt, anger, sadness, and exhaustion, all while trying to keep up appearances at work.

Many carers do not even recognise themselves as such. They see it as ‘helping out’ rather than caring. As a result, they do not seek support until a crisis point, when the impact on their work and wellbeing becomes impossible to ignore. On top of this, new caring responsibilities can bring significant financial pressure, particularly if reduced hours or unpaid leave are needed.

For employers, the consequences can be increased absence, reduced performance, higher staff turnover, and the risk of employees facing financial insecurity that further undermines their health and productivity. The Office for National Statistics reports that unpaid carers are more likely to suffer poor health themselves, which in turn can create a knock-on effect in the workplace.

The policy gap

Despite these challenges, very few organisations have policies that directly address carers’ needs, and many still lack clear guidance even for employees with cancer themselves. Without a framework in place, managers are often left unsure how to respond, and carers can feel overlooked and unsupported.

This lack of structure also has legal implications. Under the Equality Act 2010, cancer is recognised as a disability from the point of diagnosis, and carers are protected from discrimination by association. Employers therefore have a duty to ensure that carers are not treated less favourably because of their caring role.

What this looks like in practice

Consider Sarah, whose partner has advanced cancer. She needs flexibility for treatment appointments, emergency leave when crises arise, and reassurance that early departures won’t damage her career prospects. Without clear policies, she relies on her manager’s goodwill – a precarious foundation that leaves everyone anxious.

When organisations provide clarity, training, and structured options, carers manage their dual responsibilities more sustainably. This supports the individual whilst helping businesses retain valuable skills and avoid unnecessary recruitment costs.

Best practice for HR professionals

You have legal duties, moral imperatives, and a clear business case for supporting carers. With the right approach, these employees remain engaged, loyal, and able to contribute fully.

Recognise and raise awareness. Encourage employees to identify themselves as carers. Create psychological safety around this conversation. How might you normalise caring as part of your workplace dialogue?

Train managers. Line managers need confidence for sensitive conversations. Without training, they may avoid the subject entirely, leaving carers unsupported when they need it most.

Offer flexibility. Flexible hours, home working, and compassionate leave become lifelines. Extend beyond statutory minimums wherever possible – this investment pays dividends in loyalty and performance.

Support wellbeing. Carers need access to counselling, wellbeing initiatives, and employee assistance programmes. Encouraging them to care for their own health prevents the cascade of problems that follow burnout.

Create networks. Carer networks reduce isolation whilst providing invaluable peer support. Sometimes the most powerful intervention is simply knowing you’re not alone.

Plan for transitions. Caring responsibilities end through recovery or bereavement. Support phased returns and ongoing adjustments as employees navigate these significant life changes.

Key takeaways for HR

Supporting carers isn’t just compassionate – it’s commercially wise. Through awareness, manager training, and flexible policies, you prevent burnout, protect talent, and build trust.

Organisations acting now will support carers through life’s most challenging moments whilst strengthening their reputation as responsible employers. The choice seems clear: ignore carers and risk losing them, or invest in support and gain loyalty, resilience, and long-term commitment in return.

Further resources

• Working With Cancer’s Best Practice Guide for Working Carers: Insights to help organisations understand carers’ lived experience and use these insights to shape meaningful workplace support.
• Rising cancer diagnoses: How HR can provide better support to working-age cancer patients
• Untreatable, advanced cancer in the workforce: How HR can improve the working lives of employees with cancer