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Even if you do not have team members with caring responsibilities now, the odds are that eventually one of your team, or you, will have caring responsibilities. Therefore, it is important that managers and team leaders are prepared to support employees combining work and care. As a manager or team leader you should talk to your agency’s Human Resources team about the range of flexible work arrangements, support options, and leave entitlements that may be available to employees.
It is also important when considering requests for support to think about the effect that supportive arrangements will have on the rest of your team, including workload levels, and the operational requirements of the team. You may need to make additional adjustments to ensure all team members are supported and operational requirements are satisfied.
As a manager or team leader your first response on becoming aware that a member of your team has caring responsibilities should be to listen and gain an understanding of their situation. Only then should the appropriate support be considered and discussed with the team member. In some instances team members may just want to talk about their situation and are not currently seeking any adjustment or support.
Appropriate support that managers and team leaders can provide may include the following:
“I am a carer for my mother who needs support in a number of areas, and who lives with us to facilitate that. The flexible work arrangements that I use, and the general support of my whole team, is a godsend in being able to balance work, those responsibilities and the rest of my life. My managers couldn’t be more understanding, whether it’s when I have to dash out with no notice, or when I need to take a planned break for my self-care to build the resilience you sometimes need.
I’ve found it’s also important in my situation to be able to show Mum that my supervisors and team support me in my carer responsibilities, as she used to get anxious that I was ‘missing work’ and that it would affect my career. It’s great to be able to honestly tell her it’s not a problem.”
- Department of Premier and Cabinet employee
When considering requests from team members who have caring responsibilities, managers and team leaders need to take into account whether there is a short or long-term need. This would also include whether the caring role could vary over a period of time. Workplace flexibility arrangements allow for a full-time employee to adjust their hours to part-time. Part-time employment is an option which may also be suitable for employees who have caring responsibilities.
Because caring responsibilities can vary over time, managers and team leaders should have regular discussions with the team member to assess whether the current arrangements remain suitable. It may be that other support measures are needed, which can be accommodated without having a detrimental effect on the work area.
It is up to the employee with caring responsibilities to accept or decline any support offered. If the team member does not think they need any support at the time, remind them that you are always open to discussing the support if they change their mind.
Training and development forms an important part of all employees’ career progression. However, because of the sometimes unpredictable nature of caring needs, many carers may not participate in, or may be hesitant to undertake, training and development. Managers and team leaders should monitor the training and development needs and activities of people who have caring responsibilities in their team closely, identifying barriers to participation in training and development, and implementing strategies to facilitate participation.
Addressing development accessibility issues can involve:
This sub-section provides advice to managers and team leaders on some of the trickier situations that may arise when it comes to supporting team members who have caring responsibilities.
A team member needs to urgently leave the workplace during work hours because of their care responsibilities.
Many people care for family who are ill, including children or elderly parents. Employees in these caring situations may need to rush off during work hours or require time off at short notice to attend to urgent situations.
A member of my team appears distressed.
If a team member appears distressed this does not automatically mean that their caring responsibilities are the cause of their distress. No matter what is causing the team member’s distress, ask to speak with them privately to find out what is troubling them.
A team member’s caring responsibilities have ceased but they still seem to be affected.
It is important to be aware that caring can have impacts on the carer even after their responsibilities have ceased. They may be grieving and may also have many post care responsibilities such as managing the former care recipient’s belongings and property. Managers and team leaders may need to consider:
Other team members have expressed their concern about the level of support provided to individuals with caring responsibilities and its impact on them.
Colleagues may be concerned that their workload will/has increased because of the arrangements provided to carers.
[2] https://www.headsup.org.au/supporting-others/helping-a-workmate