The COVID-19 pandemic turned the whole world upside down in just a span of a few months. To help contain its spread, governments have had to enforce lockdowns and stay-at-home measures. This affected companies and employers who needed to switch to a remote setup abruptly while keeping the business afloat despite the economic downturn.
Workers have also had to adjust to these drastic changes. According to Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, around 42 percent of the US labor force now work from home full-time. This setup may seem more convenient at first, but a recent study showed that people are working longer hours now that they’re at home. Workers are stretched even more thinly than ever.
One point to remember, however, is that students now also engage in remote learning as schools reopen for the fall. High infection rates are making it difficult—sometimes even impossible—for normal school schedules to work.
With their children learning at home, working parents must face the overwhelming task of balancing their time between being a parent and an employee.
As an employer, here are some ways you can explore to support your employees as they look after their children without sacrificing your business’ productivity.
Promote Flexibility At Work
The most fundamental step you can take to support working parents and caregivers is to offer flexibility when it comes to when and how work is done.
For example, you can identify two to three hours of the day to be the “core hours” wherein they are required to be available for meetings or coordination. Outside these hours, allow your employees to start their work early or work in the evenings as long as the deadlines are met.
You may also experiment on implementing compressed workweeks, wherein your employees work 40 hours in four days and take one day off. Even before the pandemic, businesses across industries have already been trying this setup and seeing positive results.
One day off gives working parents enough time to care for their children and monitor their education, especially for those homeschooling their little ones.
Review Leave Policies
These unprecedented times require out-of-the-ordinary systems. Considering this, you must review your leave policies to make sure that working caregivers will find them useful given their situations.
Aside from regular reasons prompting an employee to file a leave, there are now other considerations you must pay attention to. On top of vacation or sick leaves and other company leaves, you must also think about how you can provide pandemic leaves.
Some employees may need to get extended time off in cases of suspected or confirmed infection, or if they need to care for a family member subject to quarantine. It’s a smart move to be prepared for these situations and, if your resources allow it, have a well-planned assistance program for affected workers.
Provide Caregiver Support
On top of these efforts, you will be able to support them during these taxing times by offering practical support. You can provide caregiver referrals or create a care cohort within your organization. These efforts provide concrete solutions to your workers’ dilemmas when it comes to caring for their children and overseeing their education.
However, you must make sure that this will be safe for all parties involved.
Conclusion
The pandemic has and continues to disrupt both labor and education. This is something that employers must acknowledge. Unless they actively assist working parents and caregivers in their workforce, they are likely to suffer long-term damages brought about by lower productivity levels and demotivated staff.
The good news is that you can lessen the burden that your employees are carrying by following the tips mentioned above. You must also get creative when crafting solutions and strategies to effectively mitigate this crisis. With this, your workers will surely appreciate your empathy and support during these sensitive times.
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