The Impact of Caregivers on Employers

Are the following scenarios common in your workplace?

• Employees taking emergency leave frequently
• Employees leaving the workforce/on sabbatical due to family issues
• Employees coming late to work or leaving work early
• Employees requesting flexible hours or part-time roles

These are signs that your employee is playing a major role in providing care for a family member or loved one, either as the primary caregiver or with the help of a maid. Over the years, there has been a significant increase in threats to productivity, employee retention, absenteeism, and workday interruptions. As a result, the cost of training new hires has risen, along with increased supervisory involvement and on-the-job accidents. If businesses want to boost their productivity, excellence, and bottom line, they have to acknowledge the fact that there’s an increase in demand for their employees to also play the role of the primary caregiver in the family.

What does an employee with caregiver stress look like?

One of the common indicators of someone being the main caregiver is the frequent application of emergency leave. A high percentage of employees go through this when they have to take their elderly parent for an emergency medical check-up. It is also common to see these people busy on the phone throughout the day, either giving or receiving updates on the condition of the unwell family member.

The demands of being the primary person to provide care can take a toll on employees. Some end up missing work, coming in late, or leaving early to tend to their loved ones. Many also lack sleep and are unfocused due to worries and the inability to juggle work and family. The additional workload due to prolonged absenteeism creates unnecessary stress and causes a slowdown in productivity and morale of the entire team. This is especially true if the primary caregiver plays a leadership position in the team, yet is not present mentally.

The Role of Corporations in Addressing the Caregiving Crisis

Caregiving is a demanding role that is often thrust upon employees in their 30s. This phenomenon is only going to grow as Malaysia is projected to become an ageing nation by 2030, with 15% of the population above 60 years. Corporations can play a huge role in addressing these issues by providing employees with education on planning for the future and benefits and discounts for caregiving services, old folks’ homes, and senior care.

Communication channels should also be set up to ensure that employees can discuss their struggles about playing the caregiver role, with appropriate advice and counselling provided. This will help to eliminate the stigma of using caregiving services and create a culture of transparency and trust between employees and management. Such additional benefits ensure that corporations retain and nurture their best talent.

The peace of mind that comes with having professional caregivers like Care Concierge look after your loved ones is invaluable, allowing employees to focus on their career progression without worrying about their family members. 

What should corporations do?

1. Engage professional organisations like Care Concierge to have talks on various issues relating to caregiving.
   At Care Concierge, we conduct talks for corporations, covering caregiving and how employees can care for their loved ones. We provide fundamental skills to be better primary caregivers and to avoid injuries. There are tips on transfers, lifting, moving, hygiene, and vital sign observations. At Care Concierge, we conduct talks for corporations, covering caregiving and how employees can care for their loved ones. We have short and long talks to suit the availability and need of each organisation.

2. Survey and understand the true needs to provide the appropriate compensation and benefits.
   Knowing the demographics and general needs of employees is crucial in being able to propose meaningful and practical employee benefits and policies. With birth rates at an all-time low in Malaysia, perhaps childcare benefits do not apply as benefits to everyone. An increasing amount of senior staff and key personnel in the company would start to identify with the need for eldercare, a service that a housemaid alone would not be able to provide. Caregiving services also go beyond eldercare. Those employees post-hospitalisation would benefit greatly from faster recovery with professional care from a caregiver, while others can get physiotherapy services from the comforts of their home.

Understanding and empathising with the employee creates a trusting and nurturing atmosphere in the workplace and would likely result in higher staff retention and engagement.