Employers are facing many human resource management challenges. Workforce scarcity is currently the number one concern, but the impact of caregiving on productivity and costs should not be overlooked. Solutions exist to help employers support their employees who are family caregivers and properly manage this increasingly common situation.
One in Three Employees are Family Caregivers
Slightly more than 30% of Quebecers between 45 and 64 are caregivers for a parent, spouse, child or another relative. Almost 55% of these caregivers devote more than 4 hours a week to this task, and sometimes even more than 20 hours1.
Some of them are part of the “sandwich generation”, meaning that they must take care of their aging parents while still attending to the needs of their dependent children.
It is reported that 15 years from now, the population aged 75 and older will have more than doubled in Canada (2.1 times)2. Knowing that 50% of them will suffer from a physical and/or cognitive impairment, the number of family caregivers is bound to keep increasing.
Implications for the Workplace
This dual or even triple role has an impact on those individuals who experience a lot of stress, anxiety and distress. They get exhausted and often develop physical and mental health problems. These issues lead to a higher incidence of absenteeism or presenteeism, lower productivity and higher staff turnover. Businesses must therefore manage complex and sensitive situations.
Why Should you Support your Employees who are Caregivers?
As an employer, you want to support your human resources while making every effort to enhance staff retention and reduce absence-related costs.
Employees who are family caregivers need time, flexibility, relief and support. Implementing a workplace caregiving-work-family balance policy could be a quick and cost-effective means of addressing these needs. Such a policy could include flexible work schedules, working from home, a new approach to holidays and vacations, telemedicine, compressed or reduced work hours, or even setting up an employee assistance fund.
Besides reducing absenteeism and presenteeism, caregiving-work-family balance promotes motivation, efficiency, engagement at work and staff retention.
Visavie: a Reliable, Competent and Recognized Partner Since 1988
A solution also exists for addressing all the needs of seniors and their families. With 34 years of expertise, Visavie is the only organization that offers a one-stop family assistance service in providing home support for seniors and finding a suitable retirement home in due course.
Most seniors want to remain in their homes as long as possible. Alleviating the burden of their caregivers will enable them to fulfill their wish. This is why Visavie’s offering includes home care and services such as assistance with meal preparation, personal hygiene and dressing, mobility and transportation, specialized and post-operative care, presence at night, pet care and walking, and much more.
When the time comes to select a retirement home, the complex process and the sheer number of facilities to visit demand a lot of time and energy. Many feel overwhelmed by the intricacies of public and private networks. Visavie’s team of senior living experts are committed to help family members choose the home where their parents will continue to fully enjoy their lives. And this service offered in Quebec and Ontario is free of charge!
Since 1988, Visavie has helped more than 200,000 families make the right choice. Their passionate team of 150 professionals is prepared to support your employees who are caregivers.
To learn more about the services provided by Visavie, visit visavie.com.
Supporting employees who are family caregivers is a win-win proposition!
1 Family caregivers in Quebec in 2018 https://statistique.quebec.ca/fr/produit/publication/personnes-proches-aidantes-quebec-2018
2 Canada’s Seniors Population Outlook: Uncharted Territory! https://www.cihi.ca/en/infographic-canadas-seniors-population-outlook-uncharted-territory
Louis Sirois is a passionate, disciplined and pragmatic business executive. For more than 40 years, he has been leading businesses large and small in real estate, the food sector, recreational sports, and for more than 25 years, in services to seniors and their families. He plays a very active role with business leader associations at the national and international level, including the famous YPO, the global leadership community of extraordinary chief executives. For several years now, he has been chairing the Association des conseillers en hébergement du Québec (ACHQ).