Caring
Definition of a carer
A carer is anyone who is responsible, unpaid, for the care of a friend, child, family member or another person who, for a variety of reasons, is not currently able to cope without their support. Carers are a diverse group and every caring situation is different.
Colleague caring
Supporting our diverse colleague and student population to do their best work and pursue their passions both inside and outside of work is a really important part of life at Salford.
We are committed to developing work practices and policies which support colleague development and work-life balance, as such various types of leave are available; Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental and Adoption Leave. Plus, emergency leave provision.
There will also be times when colleagues may be absent from work for other reasons and we aim to provide supportive practices to absence and leave for all circumstances.
We also offer agile working opportunities and have developed principles to allow different working practices and arrangements to support our people in delivering their outputs in a way that suits them.
Colleagues can also request flexible working options. Whilst agile working is based on the concept “work is what we do, not a place we go” - bringing people, technology, and processes together to increase innovation, efficiency, and flexibility. Flexible working usually refers to a formal request to contractually vary working location, working patterns, and/or working times.
Colleague Network-Parents Network
The Parents Network is dedicated to supporting all colleagues with any and all matters relating to working parents and carers.
There are three strategic priorities which are Support, Continual Policy Improvement and Regular Supportive Networking so that all our members can feel as informed, supported (and really empowered) as possible by a collective voice working for their interests.
As a network we work collaboratively with the core teams (including HR and others) as well as other networks at the University to make sure that we always act as a positive and continual voice for our members. In doing so we remain invested in regular discussions and consultations with the University’s HR teams, in particular to make sure that the core policies and frameworks are always being developed to the effective benefit of our network members.
Student Caring
One in ten of us have caring responsibilities, so if you are caring for someone whilst studying, we recognise that juggling all of this can be very difficult. Because of this we have developed a Carers' policy to ensure that you get the support you need. We are the first university in the country to offer an individual Carer Support Plan that can be adapted to your needs. We can help with any questions you may have and have well-developed links with local Carer Centres who are also able to support you.
There are many local and national organisations specialising in support for carers. Carers UK are national charities with up-to-date information and advice on:
Support available if you live in Salford can be found at:
Local organisations will be able to advise on the support available outside of Salford and the services you can expect from your local authority.