How Working Caregivers Can Care for Themselves at the Workplace

With the rapidly ageing population and shrinking family sizes, many working adults will find themselves assuming the role of caregiver in the coming years. The changing national demographics have led to the rise of the ‘sandwiched generation’ who have to care for both their parents and children. Supporting caregivers in the workplace is a pressing issue that Singapore must confront. 

According to the Agency of Integrated Care, “a caregiver is a person who has taken on the responsibility of looking after someone who is unable to care for himself or herself fully due to illness, frailty, disability or a mental health problem”¹.

While every situation is unique, with some managing intermittent care and others face long-term commitments, working caregivers may feel stressed and burdened as they manage their caregiving duties with their responsibilities in their full-time jobs.

A survey of 200 family caregivers of Dover Park Hospice home and day care patients found that the average caregiver in Singapore spends about seven hours on caregiving per day after work, with four in 10 at risk of depression².

Prioritising self-care and seeking support from others are some aspects of coping with caregiving duties. Working caregivers can also make work-related adjustments and find support within the workplace. Here are some tips for working caregivers.

Understand Your Organisation’s Culture of Care

Begin by reviewing the HR policies and benefits package from your employee handbook or employment contract to find out what support you are eligible for in your organisation.

Many offer work-life programmes such as:

• Leave schemes that go beyond what the law mandates, including family care leave
• Employee support schemes, from counselling services to deal with personal or work stress to financial assistance
• Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) like telecommuting and part-time

However, not all organisations have formal or scheduled FWAs. For instance, data from 2022 showed that 68.1% of organisations offered at least one ad hoc or non-scheduled FWA³. 

If the programmes you need are not offered or formalised, you should talk to your supervisor and HR department to find other alternatives to manage work and caregiving.

Initiate Open Communication

Having learnt the support and benefits available, the next step is to identify the option that would work best for you and your organisation.

Based on your current caregiving situation, consider:

• What type of support or changes at work would help you fulfil both your job and caregiving responsibilities?
• What needs to be done to make this a win-win solution for both you and your organisation?

To foster understanding and support, communicate openly with your supervisors about your caregiving duties and potential impacts on work. By being transparent, they can better grasp the challenges you face and effectively collaborate with you in finding viable solutions.

While you can propose ideas on how to make things work, stay open to alternative suggestions that may arise during discussions. 

If you are not able to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement, involving FWA, contingency plans or various benefits and financial support, be patient and request a reasonable timeframe to follow up.

However, reaching a consensus is not the end of the process either.

Conduct Regular Reviews

Conduct regular reviews with your supervisor to ensure that the agreed changes to work and support provided are effective – especially as your caregiving responsibilities evolve. These check-ins are also a good platform for you to keep your supervisor informed about your achievements and milestones.

Juggling caregiving with a job is not easy, and it may be tempting to throw in the towel at the workplace. However, it is important to avoid making hasty decisions.

Instead, seek support and initiate open conversations with supervisors proactively. All these can help working caregivers effectively navigate the complexities of differing responsibilities.

Employers aiming to better support their employees – including working caregivers – can explore the array of work-life programmes at tafep.sg and the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests for guidance on managing formal FWA requests. 

1 Roles Of A Caregiver. Agency for Integrated Care, retrieved from: https://www.aic.sg/caregiving/roles-of-a-caregiver/

2 Li Ying, Lee. (2023, Apr 7). Over 40% of caregivers at risk of depression amid challenging environment: Survey. The Straits Times, retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/over-40-of-caregivers-at-risk-of-depression-amid-challenging-environment-survey

3 Conditions of Employment 2022. (2023, May 11). Ministry of Manpower, retrieved from: https://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Conditions-Of-Employment-2022.aspx