Flexibility key to supporting employee life cycle realities.
More and more Canadians aged 45 to 64 are being called upon to care for their elderly parents or other senior members of their family while balancing the demands of their own families and careers and employers are increasingly responding to the needs of these valuable employees by incorporating an “elder care” policy in their HR policies.
“A lot of companies are building it into their current policies,” says Barbara Bowes, president of BowesHR. “Others are writing it as an ‘elder care’ policy.”
With a growing number of employees staying in the workplace longer coupled with the fact that the senior population (85-years-old or better) is the largest growing segment of the Canadian population – it’s expected to double in the next 25 years, according to Statistics Canada – employees are finding they need a little more flexibility in the workplace to handle being pulled in so many directions.
Bowes says lots of HR policies can already accommodate affected employees with personal days, unpaid leave and corporate wellness programs, but there are lots of other ways employers can help, too.
“People are looking for more flexibility,” says Bowes. “A compressed work week, job sharing and the ability to work from home” are some ways employers can try to accommodate the lifecycle of an employee.
Employers can also help baby boomers in the so-called sandwich generation find the resources they need to care for their elderly parents or even provide a leave of absence so the employees have some time to make arrangements and adjust to their new roles in their personal lives.
“A three-month leave of absence is easier to accommodate than a one-year maternity or parental leave,” says Bowes.
And, with more than two million Canadians already eligible for retirement in Canada, elder care policies are becoming more attractive to employees when looking for a job or considering a change in jobs.
“It isn’t just an employee problem anymore,” says Bowes. “Elder care is becoming an HR issue.” |
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