Employers: make work of informal care in the workplace

Do you want to:

• Healthy, energetic and loyal employees?

• Better work performance and higher productivity?

• Less absenteeism, lower costs and less downtime?

• An attractive employer profile in a tight labour market?

Watch the movie Work and informal care or take a look at the website Work & care

Why paying attention to informal care is important

One in four employees combines work with informal care for a loved one. In the care sector, it is even one in three. Due to the ageing population, the policy of allowing older people to live at home for longer and the growing staff shortage, this number will increase further. Sooner or later, almost every organisation will have to deal with working informal carers.

Many employees do not recognise themselves as carers. They take it for granted to care for a family member or acquaintance and therefore do not talk about it easily. Yet combining work and informal care can be tough. Increasingly, employees get out of balance, with a risk of overwork, illness or even dropout. One in four informal carers is considering working less.

The role of the employer

As an employer, you can do a lot for carers in your organisation. By attention, understanding, flexibility and appropriate support offer, you create a win-win situation:

• Employees stay healthy, vital and engaged

• Improve work performance

• Reduced absenteeism and lower absence costs

• Your organisation becomes more attractive to (new) employees in a tight labour market

Make informal care negotiable and support your employees, thus investing in sustainable employability and attractive employment.

As an employer, what can you turn to us for?

Employers can contact us with questions about recognising and discussing informal care in the workplace, preventing overload and drop-out, and offering appropriate support or flexibility. We think along in a way that suits your organisation, provide insight into what informal carers need, help raise awareness and, where necessary, refer to appropriate information, training courses or networks. Even if everything is not yet concrete, in an exploratory meeting we look together at what could be helpful.

As an employer, what can you already do yourself?

You can make an immediate difference by making informal care negotiable, recognising signs of overload, allowing for flexibility and paying attention to work-life balance. Small steps can already mean a lot.

Do you have questions or want to spar about what is possible within your organisation? Feel free to contact with us.