Employer Case Studies

Employer Case Study: Royal London

Developing a Comprehensive Carer’s Policy and Support Framework at Royal London

Focus

Supporting colleagues with caring responsibilities through policy development, systems enablement and cultural change.

Background and Context

Royal London recognises that unpaid caring responsibilities are increasingly common and can have a significant impact on colleagues’ wellbeing, attendance, and retention. Historically, support for carers existed within broader leave and flexible working arrangements, rather than through a dedicated, easily identifiable framework. While this provided a degree of flexibility, feedback from colleagues and external benchmarking highlighted the need for clearer, more visible, and more consistent support.

This case study outlines Royal London’s journey from referencing carers within existing leave policies to creating a standalone Carer’s Policy and integrated support framework, underpinned by external accreditation, colleague engagement, and data‑driven insight.

Aims and Objectives

The organisation set out to:

• Improve visibility and accessibility of support for colleagues with caring responsibilities
• Provide flexibility that reflected the unpredictable nature of caring
• Enable better identification and understanding of carers within the workforce
• Embed carer support into leadership practice and organisational culture
• Benchmark progress externally and strive for best‑practice recognition.

Key Stages of Development

1. From Embedded References to Targeted Focus

Initially, carers were supported through general leave and flexibility provisions. Over time, engagement with colleagues, People Leaders and the Colleague Representative Forum identified that this approach did not adequately reflect the complexity of caring roles or encourage colleagues to self‑identify as carers.

In response, Royal London committed to developing a more explicit and holistic approach, supported by external expertise.

2. Engagement with Carer Positive – Building Foundations

Royal London formally engaged with Carer Positive, operated by Carers Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. Achieving Engaged status marked an important first step, signalling senior leadership commitment and providing a structured framework against which to assess current practice and identify development priorities.

This external lens helped shape the direction of future policy development and set clear expectations for progression.

3. Creation of a Standalone Carer’s Policy and Support Plan

During 2024, Royal London developed and launched a standalone Carer’s Policy, supported by clear guidance for both colleagues and People Leaders. Key features included:

• A clear and inclusive definition of who is considered a carer
• Recognition that caring responsibilities are often unpredictable and emotionally demanding
• The introduction of a Carer’s Support Plan, designed to encourage meaningful conversations between colleagues and their People Leaders about flexibility, adjustments, and emergency arrangements
• Centralised signposting to internal networks and external sources of support.

The policy was developed following focus groups with carers, People Leaders of carers and representatives from the Colleague Representative forum, ensuring it reflected lived experience and practical realities.

4. Practical Flexibility and Systems Enablement

A key enhancement was the provision of up to 70 hours (10 days) of paid carer’s leave, with a deliberate design choice to allow this leave to be taken in hours rather than full or half days. This change acknowledged that caring responsibilities often require short, unplanned periods away from work, such as medical appointments or urgent care needs.

Alongside this, Royal London introduced a voluntary Carer Responsibility Marker within SuccessFactors. This enabled colleagues to self‑identify confidentially and allowed the organisation to better understand its carer population, informing future policy, support and wellbeing initiatives.

5. Progression to Established Accreditation

Following submission of evidence to Carers Scotland reflecting the refresh of the policy and support plan to simplifying content for users including and the development of a supporting policy on a page, Royal London achieved Carer Positive Established status in 2025. Feedback highlighted:

• The strength and clarity of the standalone policy
• The financial protection offered through paid carer’s leave
• The introduction of data‑enabled insight via the SuccessFactors marker
• Visible leadership support and effective internal communications, including Scoop (intranet) articles authored by the Group Chief People Officer.

This milestone demonstrated that carer support was no longer ad‑hoc, but embedded and consistently applied.

6. Evidence‑Led Practice and Continuous Improvement

To further strengthen practice, Royal London engaged in external research and internal testing, including:

• Collaborative work with the University of Strathclyde, contributing to wider understanding of workplace support for carers and the development of a digital platform that will support carers in the workplace
• Participation in PELI testing (generative AI assistant), to ensure the robustness of responses given to users who have questions around arrangements for carers.

Internally, feedback loops were maintained through colleague surveys, focus groups and ongoing engagement with the Colleague Representative Forum, ensuring that the policy continued to evolve in line with colleague needs.

7. Achieving Exemplary Carer Positive Status

In March 2026, Royal London achieved Carer Positive Exemplary accreditation, the highest level of recognition. This reflected:

• Sustained leadership and organisational commitment
• A mature, well‑embedded carers framework
• Practical, flexible arrangements aligned to real‑world caring responsibilities
• Data‑driven insight and external collaboration to evidence impact and drive continuous improvement.

Outcomes and Impact

• Increased visibility and understanding of carer support across the organisation
• Greater flexibility for colleagues, reducing stress and the need for unplanned absence or annual leave
• Improved capability and confidence among People Leaders in supporting carers
• Enhanced organisational insight into the caring population via SuccessFactors
• External recognition as an exemplar employer for carers.

Conclusion

Royal London’s journey demonstrates how organisations can move beyond minimum compliance towards genuine, inclusive support for working carers. By combining clear policy design, flexible practical measures, systems enablement, colleague voice, and external accreditation, Royal London has embedded carer support into both policy and culture, positioning itself as a leading employer in this area.