Funding Support for Carers

University Carers' Fund

Introduction

The University of York is committed to promoting equality and supporting equal opportunities for all of our employees. As part of this ongoing commitment, the University has introduced the Carers' Fund.

Purpose of the fund

The University Carers' Fund has been set up to offer financial support to all employees that have caring responsibilities for children or dependent adults and need to attend work-related training1 that extends beyond their usual working hours. Where an employee has to pay for other care providers to cover the extra time away from home, they will be able to submit an expense claim for these additional costs.

Scope

The University Carers' Fund is available to all University employees that have caring responsibilities for dependents2 and need to attend work-related training either in the UK or overseas. For clarification purposes, this includes (but may not be limited to):

  • Attending work-related training specific to your role
  • Career development events (e.g. attending/presenting at conferences)

The University will only reimburse the extra care costs that employees have incurred directly as a result of the additional hours away from home (see FAQs).

The maximum limit per claim is £350. Employees must only claim for the actual costs incurred, supported by a valid receipt/invoice from the care provider.

There is no limit on the number of claims that an employee can submit annually, however there is a maximum annual budget cap per faculty (see FAQs).

Out of Scope:

The Carers' Fund is not available to casual workers, associates, PhD students, employees of our subsidiary companies or employees that have voluntarily resigned from their post and are in their notice period.

The fund does not cover the following (and claims will not be reimbursed):

  • Attending conferences, work-related training days and similar work-related development opportunities whilst on leave e.g.Parental Leave, sick leave.
  • Providing training to others which is not part of your own development.
  • Pet care
  • The cost of taking a companion / carer with you to work related training

Eligibility criteria

All of the following criteria will need to be met in order for claims against the Carers’ Fund to be valid:

  • You must be attending work-related training as defined by HMRC and as clarified in the Scope section above.
  • The activity is time specific and only available at a date/time that falls outside of your normal working hours/extends beyond those hours.
  • If you are a part-time employee, you have considered the option of temporarily adjusting your working hours to accommodate the training/conference attendance to avoid additional care costs and this is not feasible.
  • You have caring responsibilities and nobody else at your home can provide the care.
  • Attending work-related training will result in extra care costs, above and beyond what you usually pay for.
  • No alternative source of funding is available, e.g. from the conference/training organiser or from research council funding.
  • You have an auditable record of booking/attending the work-related training event e.g. email confirmation from the supplier/organiser (see FAQs).
  • You have a valid receipt from the care provider that evidences the extra costs you have incurred above and beyond your normal care provision/arrangements.

Each claim will be assessed against these eligibility criteria. If you are not sure whether you meet all of the criteria above, please check with the 'Approver' (i.e. the budget holder or line manager if you are the budget holder) before booking your work-related training. Approvers must reject expense claims for care costs that do not meet these criteria.

Making a claim

All expense claims against the Carers' Fund must be made on the University's standard expense claim forms. Please visit the Expenses page to obtain a copy of the 'staff' expense claim form and follow the instructions to complete and submit your claim.

Care costs should be charged to the relevant departmental work order (see FAQs) along with the account code 2121, Child Care Expenses.

A valid receipt/invoice from the care provider (see FAQs) must be attached in support of the amount claimed to ensure we comply with HMRC tax legislation.  A valid receipt should include the date(s), hourly rate charged, hours of care provided and should clearly identify the care provider.

Evidence of booking/attending the event must also be attached to the claim.

Definitions

  1. Work related training: definition below as set out in HMRC's EIM01220

    2. For the purpose of the exemption in Section 250 ITEPA 2003 (see EIM01210), "work- related training" is defined as any training course or other activity which is designed to impart, instil, improve or reinforce any knowledge, skills, or personal qualities which:

    • are, or are likely to prove, useful to the employee when performing his/her duties or
    • will qualify or better qualify the employee to undertake the employment, or to participate in charitable or voluntary activities arising through the employment.
  2. Dependent: A dependent can be the employee's spouse or civil partner, child or parent, or someone who lives in the same household but who is not their employee, lodger or boarder.