Acting as a caregiver comes with both rewards and challenges. Raising children, assisting elderly parents, or helping disabled relatives may bring exceptional meaning to one’s life. But such responsibility often involves stressful juggling of tasks and schedules, as well.
While numerous employers are supportive of caregivers, others are not. Caregiver discrimination is all too real. And despite the fact that many caregivers go to great lengths to ensure their work performance meets or exceeds expectations, some are subjected to bias and unfair treatment.
Rightfully, such prejudice results in anger—and an increasing number of caretakers aren’t willing to endure in silence. Caregiver discrimination is one of the fastest-growing areas of employment law. People who have been passed up for promotions or overlooked for choice assignments because of their caregiving duties are seeking recourse—and winning.
As this article from The Atlantic notes, “The problem of caretaker discrimination is costing companies a lot of money. In the past decade, employees were awarded nearly half a billion dollars in verdicts and settlements, according to the WorkLife Center’s report. That is more than double the amount awarded the decade before. And these numbers do not include confidential settlement agreements, which means that the total cost is likely higher.”
The article also brings up the point that while it’s not explicitly illegal under federal law for employers to discriminate against working parents, “employees have succeeded in showing that it can be deemed unlawful sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits job discrimination based on religion, race, sex, and national origin.”
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Furthermore, some unhappy caretakers are finding that state or local laws offer even greater protection, such as this new provision to the New York City Human Rights Law.
The importance of flexible arrangements to decrease caregiver discrimination
Demonstrating that your company is committed to work-life balance is a great way to build loyalty and improve morale, not just among workers with caregiving responsibilities, but with all employees. For instance, allowing employees to shift hours can ease the stress of someone who regularly needs to take his mother to physical therapy or pick up children at a certain hour. (It also might enable non-caregivers to do something meaningful to them, such as take a class or volunteer.)
Or consider formulating a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). This management concept allows employees flexibility over when, where, and how they work with no questions asked—as long as they are able to fulfill predetermined productivity goals.
But don’t think of such actions as charity. Smart businesses know that satisfied employees tend to produce a better bottom line. They also can be your best PR agents, resulting in an enhanced reputation and ability to recruit top talent.
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