More people absent from work due to caring for others
06/10/2014
One in three employers have reported that absence levels have increased due to staff members struggling to cope with caring responsibilities outside of work.
The report, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), shows that only one in six employers have organisation wide policies or guidelines in place for carers and an additional two fifths report that they do offer support to individuals on an ad hoc basis.
Even though more people are absent from work due to caring for others, the overall rate of absences has fallen in the UK from an average of 7.6 days to 6.6 days this year. The report suggests this is not to do with people becoming fitter, but with more people coming into work while sick, as the report suggests a third employees have struggled in to work before fully recovering from illness.
Dr. Jill Miller, CIPD research adviser, said:
“As people have children later, and are looking after parents in the ageing baby boomer generation, they find themselves caring for both their children and their older relatives.
“It’s therefore absolutely vital that employers have strong wellbeing policies in place, and communicate the benefits of flexible working to their employees, who all have the right to request to work flexibly under new legislation. But most importantly, line managers need to receive adequate training on how to have constructive discussions with their staff about the various benefits available to them. And it’s proven that flexible working can improve engagement and productivity within the workforce. With this in mind, hopefully in the future more workers will be able to handle the demands of caring.”
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