The Globe and Mail — Easing the load: The caregiver-friendly workplace is emerging 

Some employers are beginning to recognize the impossible bind their working carers find themselves in, pulled between full-time hours and family duties. A new kind of “caregiver-friendly” workplace is emerging, where these responsibilities aren’t hidden and policies are tailored to help ease the load. They include flexible work arrangements, paid and unpaid leaves, benefits offering respite care, specialized counselling, peer support groups, online resource portals and job protection. 

“It’s starting to shift because more and more people now have personal lived experience with this,” said Christa Haanstra, who leads a working caregiver initiative at the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. “This population is just going to grow.” 

For Ms. Haanstra, the fundamental question for employers is this: What if recognizing and helping caregivers became as normal as supporting new parents at work?