Employees who care for close family members or partners often need support themselves. As a manager or HR professional, you can help ensure that family carers respect their limits and stay healthy.

With the demographic trend and increasing number of older people, there are more and more employees caring for family members or spouses who are ill or in need of care, in addition to their gainful employment. Such care is varied, ranging from helping with everyday tasks, assisting with household chores, administrative tasks and coordinating care services.
There are also situations in which children urgently need the presence of their parents, for example, after an accident or in case of illness.
What these care situations have in common is that their unpredictable nature, the variety of activities and the adaptation to changing requirements and needs can go hand in hand with extremely high stress levels.

First and foremost, family carers are confronted with the difficulty of balancing work and care. This can lead to these employees neglecting their work, being frequently absent and less productive. Which in turn can cause tension and conflict within the team.
In many cases, chronic fatigue and stress are also the result, especially during times of crisis when the intensity increases and family carers mobilise all their strength to meet the sick person’s needs. This often creates a feeling of powerlessness and being overwhelmed.

Employers who support their employees in challenging care situations create trust and ensure a good, motivating working atmosphere. Contact us for specialist counselling or inform the employees concerned about our services.