Staff are more than just workers; we're individuals with full lives outside of our roles at UW, balancing various demands on our time and energy. Whether this is a responsibility to other people or a community, a personal commitment or passion, or a struggle with mental or physical health, most (if not all) of us know what it鈥檚 like to be pulled in multiple directions, even overstretched. Remembering this could be key to making the workplace better for staff with caregiving responsibilities outside of work.
As part of our 鈥What Your Colleagues Want You to Know鈥 series, we asked staff who are caregivers鈥攚hether for children, parents, or others鈥攚hat they wish their coworkers understood about their daily realities and how we can support them.
Members described their experiences of emotional and physical exhaustion, being misunderstood by colleagues, and feelings of isolation and overwhelm.
They鈥檙e looking for a supportive work environment that acknowledges their challenges, offers grace and understanding, and provides practical support such as hybrid work options.
Here are five things that colleagues and managers can do to help caregivers thrive at work, according to current UW staff members.
The Staff Association membership is incredibly diverse. Our mission at the UWSA is to cultivate a progressive work environment where staff feel safe, empowered to grow, and able to thrive, but we need different things to make this a reality. We're hoping this series amplifying members鈥 own words will help us all understand each other a bit better.
1. Be patient and flexible
Providing care to others is inherently unpredictable. We can all strive to be patient and understanding when things come up unexpectedly for others, adapting where possible.
鈥淭his leaves me with little personal time and energy, so I may not always be social at work. Understanding and flexibility from my colleagues would greatly help me manage my responsibilities and well-being."
Raising children and working full-time is often intense, especially as a single parent, and especially when the children have special needs. When things come up, juggling work meetings and commitments is stressful. It鈥檚 essential that managers create a compassionate and supportive culture.
2. Recognize that not all caregiving looks the same
We heard from staff that the demands of caregiving aren鈥檛 always immediately visible or understood by others. We can all try to be more aware of the range of caregiving experiences and sensitive to the challenges colleagues face. Even parenting can be a very different experience from one family to the next, especially if you have children with disabilities or other unique needs.
鈥淚 have two children who have autism, the oldest also has a moderate intellectual disability, the youngest also has ADHD, and they both have epilepsy. I have a lot of demands on my time outside of work. I often am up late trying to finish everything and I am very tired.鈥
Too often, my efforts, thoughts, and experiences are completely discounted because the adults I support are not my children.
In our society, it is not well understood nor appreciated what life looks like with adults that need lifelong care. It is isolating.
Sometimes I can be distracted by the sheer overwhelmingness of being a caregiver for a young adult with a disability. While colleagues my age are excitedly sharing how their children have 鈥渓aunched,鈥 I will forever be the caregiver for a person who never will.
3. Embrace flexible work arrangements
Caregivers need flexible work schedules to manage their caregiving responsibilities, such as taking children or parents to appointments and handling emergencies. Flexible work doesn鈥檛 mean working less; it means allowing work to flow around other obligations.
When you have little kids, life is often unpredictable at best. I will have to leave unexpectedly to take kids to the doctor or stay home when they are ill.聽 As a team manager and as a team member I want my team to know that if I commit to completing a project or a task that they can rely on me. However, I may be working odd hours to get it completed.
In an already chaotic world situation, not having the extra commute provides more opportunity to spend time with family. Just because others have made do historically, going into the office every day, does not mean it should be kept as the norm.
4. Help reduce the guilt and pressure
This one鈥檚 good for all of us: Make sure your colleagues and direct reports know that you don鈥檛 expect them to perform at 100% all the time! No one is able to do that without burning out, let alone when we have added demands and stressors.
Being a parent of young kids means that work cannot always be a top priority. While I strongly value my career, what helps me thrive and bring my best to work is knowing I have a supportive team who won't fault me for not bringing 110% to the job every day.
Between caring for a parent, having a young family and work, it feels like I am being pulled in a million different directions. The guilt of not being able to give every area of my life 100% is heavy. It's a good reminder that we don't know what our colleagues are facing in their personal lives and to be compassionate and caring to all.
5. Trust them to know what they need鈥攁nd to be a committed team member
This has become a theme in this series. If we want to create an empowering work environment where everyone can thrive, we need to value lived experience, and we need to take direction from staff about what they need in order to do their best work.
"I may be using that time to re-read, prepare for something, or take five minutes to breathe before moving on to something else, and all of these things are important for me to be able to perform my best at work.鈥
Resources
Homewood Health counselling and coaching sessions
Our Employee and Family Assistance Program provides free short-term counselling and coaching for you and your family members. Areas of expertise available include childcare, parenting, and elder and family care.
The program is聽confidential. Your information, including whether you or your dependants have accessed the program, is never shared with the University.
Compassionate Care Leaves
If the care work you鈥檙e doing qualifies for a Critical Illness Leave or Family Medical Leave under the Employment Standards Act, there are supplemental benefits available to support you during this leave. From the HR website:
Employees on an Employment Standards Act (ESA) Critical Illness Leave (CIL) or an ESA Family Medical Leave (FML) are entitled to 85% of their base pay (less any Employment Insurance benefits received, if applicable) for 8 weeks. Employees eligible for EI benefits must apply, but paid CCL is not contingent on receipt of EI benefits.
Sandwich Generation workshop May 15
Keeping Well at Work is hosting a workshop called "Supportive Strategies for the Sandwich Generation" on May 15.
During this wellness session, participants will:
-
Reflect on the unique challenges faced by the sandwich generation
-
Examine the caregiver鈥檚 experience
-
Learn about the dynamic process of aging
-
Explore approaches to caregiving to assist in the facilitation of care
-
Gain strategies to manage stress that accompanies caregiving
Up next
Our next post in this series will explore the experiences of Generation Z staff. We are also still collecting responses from staff who identify as Black.
This post was created from staff members鈥 own words, partially summarized by Microsoft Copilot. We uploaded 22 staff comments on April 24 and asked Copilot to summarize the key themes and draft 5-10 things colleagues and managers could do to support staff who are caregivers. We then reworked and revised the Copilot results. Any quotations are direct from staff submissions with only minor edits for length or clarity.聽