A previously reliable employee starts to struggle.
Their performance dips. Their presence within the team changes. Perhaps their attendance becomes less consistent, or the way they are working simply isn't what it was.
It would be easy to see this as a performance problem.
Sometimes, it is worth asking a different question first: what has changed?
Carers UK’s September 2026 research estimates that one in five UK workers, around 6.7 million people, combines paid employment with unpaid care. It also estimates that 1.1 million people left employment to care in the previous two years.
But even those figures don’t tell us what someone is managing alongside their job.
Caring responsibilities are not always obvious.
We tend to think of a carer as someone looking after an elderly parent or supporting somebody with a disability or long-term health condition.
But caring can take many forms.
It might mean supporting a partner with their mental health, helping an adult child who needs additional support, regularly taking a relative to appointments, or being the person a friend or family member increasingly relies upon.
And the person doing those things may not describe themselves as a carer at all.
That's important for employers, because it means you may have people within your organisation balancing significant caring responsibilities without either you or, sometimes, they themselves recognising it in those terms.
Often, the first indication that something has changed comes when it starts to affect work.
We recently supported an organisation where a long-standing employee had begun to struggle.
There had been noticeable dips in performance and a change in their presence within the team. It wasn't typical of them, and their manager knew something wasn't right.
By the time they had an honest conversation about what was happening, things had reached crisis point.
The employee was dealing with increasing caring responsibilities for an elderly parent but had found it difficult to talk about it at work. They had reached the point of questioning whether they could continue in their job.
Once the situation was understood, the conversation changed.
The employee could explain what they were dealing with. The organisation could be clear about what it still needed from them. Together, they could start looking at what might work for both sides.
They agreed temporary changes to start and finish times, remote working on specific days and greater flexibility around appointments.
Importantly, nobody tried to find a permanent answer immediately.
The arrangements were documented, expectations were clear and regular review points were agreed. That gave the employee time to adjust to changing circumstances while giving the organisation an opportunity to understand what was workable operationally.
Sometimes that is all you need to do initially: agree something sensible, see how it works and keep talking.
There are already statutory rights that can help employees balance work and caring responsibilities.
Employees have a day-one right to take up to one week of unpaid Carer’s Leave in a 12-month period to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need.
Employees can also request flexible working from their first day of employment. Depending on the circumstances, that could include changes to working hours, patterns or location.
There is also a right to reasonable time off to deal with an unexpected emergency involving a dependant.
Employers should make sure their policies reflect these rights and that managers understand what is available.
But a policy is a framework. It can't tell a manager exactly what will work for every individual.
One of the challenges we see is that employees do not always disclose caring responsibilities until the situation has become difficult to manage.
Sometimes they don't feel able to raise it. Sometimes they simply don't see what they are doing as ‘caring’.
Either way, a manager may see the effect before they understand the cause.
That is why it is important not to jump immediately from a change in performance, attendance or behaviour to assumptions about somebody's capability or commitment.
There may still be a performance issue that needs to be managed. But understanding the circumstances means you can have a much more useful conversation about what happens next.
The right arrangement will depend on the individual.
It might mean:
The important word here is workable.
What does the employee need? What can the organisation reasonably accommodate? What does it mean for colleagues and the wider team? And is the arrangement intended to be temporary, ongoing or simply something to try and review?
Supporting somebody does not mean agreeing to every request. It means understanding the individual circumstances, being clear about what both sides need and using the flexibility available to find a practical way forward.
Policies matter. But managers also need the confidence to have these conversations.
That becomes particularly relevant as we move into the colder months. In our work with clients, we often see caring pressures increase at this time of year, particularly for employees supporting older relatives.
The first sign may not be someone asking for Carer’s Leave or making a flexible working request.
It might be an increase in absence. Someone becoming distracted. A change in performance. A reliable employee who suddenly doesn't seem quite themselves.
Those things shouldn't be ignored. But neither should we assume we know what is causing them.
At You Consultancy, we help organisations work through situations like these, supporting managers, reviewing policies where needed and helping employers find arrangements that take account of the individual, the organisation and the wider team.
Often, the answer isn't another policy.
It's understanding what has changed, having an honest conversation and agreeing something practical that can be reviewed as circumstances develop.
Because the working carers in your organisation won't necessarily identify themselves to you.
Some may not even identify themselves as carers.
So, when a good employee suddenly starts struggling, don't rush to conclusions.
Sometimes the first question simply needs to be: What’s changed?
If If you’re working through a situation like this, we can help you find a way forward that takes account of the individual, the organisation, and the wider team. Get in touch with us today and let’s talk it through.
