You can help your employees who are caring for relatives and friends and also reduce the risks to your business in the following ways:
Creating a culture that cares:
When you get on board with helping employees balance their paid work and unpaid caregiving responsibilities you are acknowledging that people’s needs outside of work are important. Benefits of providing workplace supports include saving time on the job, increased workplace performance, higher retention, stress reduction and reduced absenteeism.
Offering Flexibility:
Offer an opportunity to discuss schedule adjustments and the provide employees with the ability to adjust their work hours, job share, make up time and work from home if that’s possible and will make a difference.
Providing information:
Give those who need it access to helpful, up-to-date resources to help them find community-based resources, financial and legal issues.
Navigating costs:
Assist employees with ways to access public and private resources and programs to help them provide better, worry-free care.
Emotional support:
Provide mental health supports and services to assist with the isolation and challenges of caregiving while balancing work and family life.
Employee benefits programs:
Explain what’s available for them in existing benefits programs and encourage their use.
Workplace policies:
Develop clear, easy to access policies to define flexible hours, alternative work arrangements job sharing, etc.
Employee education:
Offer free of charge workshops, webinars and newsletters as well as access to trusted sources to assist.
