working while also managing their caregiving
responsibilities.
Marcella Daye, a senior policy analyst
with the Canadian Human Rights
Commission, says that human rights legislation
prohibits discrimination on the
grounds of family status, which has been
interpreted to include “normal duties and
caregiving obligations that flow from our
family status.”
“Most employees actually manage their
caregiving and their work obligations
without their employer even knowing that
there is an issue,” said Daye. When difficulties
do arise, “if an employee would
not normally be allowed to take off time
and make it up later, switch shifts or forego
pay, human rights law is saying that in
certain cases there will be a legal obligation
to go further and seek out that flexibility.”
She suggests re-examining benefits,
leave policies and collective agreements to
include a broad definition of family.
“As much you can, build inclusivity into
your leave,” she said.
Dr. Jack Watters, vice president,
External Medical Affairs at Pfizer Inc.,
says his company has many programs,
including backup family childcare that
employees can access when they’re needed
to care for an adult. Pfizer has also spearheaded
ReACT (for “Respect a Caregiver’s
Time”), a coalition of over 30 companies
and non-profit organizations. ReACT
seeks to open up the conversation about
caregiving challenges to support workers
while reducing the impact on employers.
“The only way we will be able to serve
our caregivers in the workplace is by talking
about it,” said Watters.
“It’s all about attracting and retaining
top talent,” said Stephen Shea, managing
partner, Talent at Ernst & Young, which
already offers employees numerous flexible
work arrangements. “Looking at the
way you schedule shifts is far cheaper in
the long run than replacing employees
constantly.”
Flexibility appears to be key in a caregiving
situation.
“A flexible workplace is probably the
most powerful tool,” said Caterina Sander,
vice president of Habanero Consulting
Group. The firm empowers its workers to
benefits
FLEXIBLE HOURS AND TECHNOLOGY ARE THE TOOLS MOST OFTEN
USED TO ASSIST CAREGIVERS TO CONTINUE WORKING WHILE
ALSO MANAGING THEIR CAREGIVING RESPONSIBILITIES.
have as much control over every aspect of
their jobs as possible, thereby fostering a
strong commitment to the work.
Sander encourages companies to employ
technology that enables people to be
plugged in and communicate when they’re
forced to miss work.
Dr. Joel Sadavoy is Pencer chair and
head of geriatric psychiatry at Mount
Sinai Hospital’s Reitman Centre for
Alzheimer’s Support and Training, which
has spearheaded the Working CARERS
Program, delivered nationally through
EAP provider Ceridian.
The program takes an innovative approach
by actually training caregivers how
to change their own behaviour in order to
minimize stress; it also has a research arm.
“Working caregivers are often invisible
in the workplace; they might not identify
themselves, and the cost is high if they
don’t,” he said. “We have to engage the employee;
we think the way to do this is at the
manager level, but a lot of managers may
need training. We also have to demonstrate
cost-effectiveness.”
BMO is one of the employers participating
in Working CARERS.
“We had standing room only in some
of our introductory sessions,” said Natalie
Scott, BMO’s managing director, Global
Benefits & Recognition. BMO is advocating
on the issue with other employers.
“We’re applying a bit of peer pressure, being
able to say, ‘What are you doing in the
area of caregivers?’”
The caregiving discussion is going to
continue well into the future, so companies
should be constantly searching for
best practices and how to navigate difficult
situations.
“This is the issue of our next 10 to 20
years,” said Daye. “I think we’re up to it,
but we need to move quickly to find solutions
and implement them to the best of
our Canadian ability.” n
32 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL