The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Government to protect unpaid carers.

Party Leader and Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds called for “carer status” to be made a protected characteristic in order to avoid employment discrimination.

Ms Dodds said: “These invaluable individuals often feel overlooked by wider society, forced to face hidden challenges, such as in employment, alone.

“Currently, there exists no direct requirement for equality monitoring forms to ask if someone has unpaid caring responsibilities.

“While there also doesn’t exist any direct requirements for employers to make reasonable adjustments for employees with caring duties.

“One way in which we can work towards tackling discrimination against our unpaid carers would be through making “carer status” a protected status.”