Family friendly policies: accommodating end‐of‐life caregivers in workplaces

Abstract

Purpose -Family friendly workplace policies (FFWPs) are designed to help employees co-manage work and personal obligations. With the rising aging population and subsequent emphasis on informal caregiving in Canada, Canadian employees will have to maintain paid work while serving as caregivers for family members at end-of-life (EoL). Thus, workplaces need to be prepared to accommodate these workers' requests. The objective of this paper is to explore, qualitatively, the workplace and employee characteristics that are most helpful to employees in EoL caregiving situations from an employer/human resources (HR) perspective so as to inform the development of FFWPs targeting this group. Design/methodology/approach -The authors draw on the findings of five focus group discussions undertaken in 2008 with Canadian employers and HR professionals in the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Findings -There are clear differences in how large and small workplaces accommodate employees who are providing EoL care. For instance, larger workplaces are more likely to have set policies around employee EoL care leaves and are unable to accommodate employees' needs that fall outside the scope of these policies; smaller workplaces are less likely to have standard policies for caregiver leaves and are more able to customize responses to leave requests. Employee characteristics such as length of time working for the employer and employee skill level also have a bearing on accommodating employee EoL care leave requests. The presence of HR infrastructure, which is more characteristically found in large workplaces, is also related to the availability of formal FFWPs.Research limitations/implications -The fact that the data were derived from the employer/HR perspective and not those of actual employees is a limitation. The small sample size and convenience (non-random) sampling limits the generalizability of the findings. Originality/value -This research contributes to the limited literature on FFWPs and EoL caregiving accommodations. The findings of this study can directly inform workplace practice, both now and in the years to come, regarding how best to support workers who are also providing informal EoL care to family, friends, and others.

Availability of caregiver-friendly workplace policies (CFWPs): an international scoping review

“…In exemplary cases, employers have offered extensive support in the form of: case management services, subsidised care‐giving services, adult day care facilities, emergency short‐term care, dependent care, flexible spending accounts and dependent care car parks (Vuksan et al . ).…”

“…); unpaid leaves (at time periods beyond the government‐mandated timeframe) (Zacher & Winter , Vuksan et al . ); and support services (such as resource and referral services, information services, counselling, support groups, workshops and seminars on care‐giving issues) (Golden , Vuksan et al . ).…”

“…); and support services (such as resource and referral services, information services, counselling, support groups, workshops and seminars on care‐giving issues) (Golden , Vuksan et al . ). In exemplary cases, employers have offered extensive support in the form of: case management services, subsidised care‐giving services, adult day care facilities, emergency short‐term care, dependent care, flexible spending accounts and dependent care car parks (Vuksan et al .…”

Work–Life Balance Measures of Working Carers and Well-Being Satisfaction within Couple Relationships: The Result of an Italian Policy Looking through the Gender Lens

“…Creating a satisfactory work-life balance seems to have become even more difficult due to a series of emergencies that took place during the last decade in Europe and especially in Italy: The socio-economic crisis and its consequences on the restructuring of welfare policies (Arts and Gelissen 2010; Ferragina and Seeleib-Kaiser 2011) and the economic system (Addabbo et al 2017); the explosion of communication technologies that has profoundly changed both times and places of work (Ollier-Malaterre and Foucreault 2017; Greenhaus and Kossek 2014); changes in labor markets (Gallie 2017); the increase in the presence of women in the workforce (Bonoli 2007; Esping-Andersen 2009); the ever accelerating redefinition of roles between genders and generations (Lewis 2006;Lister et al 2007; ISTAT 2016); the increased instability of couple relationships (Bianchi and Milkie 2010).From a gender perspective, these changes-along with others-have triggered a "silent revolution" that has radically changed both the public and the private dimensions of the "mid-century compromise" between family and work (Crouch 1999). They have produced a number of phenomena-some of which are particularly relevant to the research that we present, such as the postponement and renouncing of parenthood (Esping-Andersen et al 2015) and the renouncing of participation in the labor market (Vuksan et al 2012)-which are becoming relevant topics in Italy (Mauceri and Valentini 2010). For these reasons, work-life balance could become a new social risk for some categories of citizens and in particular women.…”

“…From a gender perspective, these changes-along with others-have triggered a "silent revolution" that has radically changed both the public and the private dimensions of the "mid-century compromise" between family and work (Crouch 1999). They have produced a number of phenomena-some of which are particularly relevant to the research that we present, such as the postponement and renouncing of parenthood (Esping-Andersen et al 2015) and the renouncing of participation in the labor market (Vuksan et al 2012)-which are becoming relevant topics in Italy (Mauceri and Valentini 2010). For these reasons, work-life balance could become a new social risk for some categories of citizens and in particular women.…”