NTUC survey: 85% of working caregivers in S’pore think flexible work arrangements will help them the most

By 2030, one in two Singaporeans who are healthy at age 65 could become severely disabled at some point in their lifetime and will require long-term care.

Given this outlook, the caregiving responsibilities borne by Singaporean workers are only set to increase.

With more workers taking on roles as caregivers, they will need assurance that they have the support to manage work and caregiving duties.

To ensure that workers can meet their unique caregiving demands, workplaces need to be caregiver-friendly.

Employers also need to review their leave and benefits policies to better support workers in their eldercare responsibilities.

Work and caregiving made easier

One workplace that has adopted caregiving friendly policies is public transport operator SMRT.

As a caregiver to an elderly mother with medical conditions, Pravita Nithiah Nandan Subin, who works as an operations specialist for SMRT, has benefited from the company’s eldercare-friendly policies.

Given her circumstances, Pravita’s shift work would have posed challenges in making caregiving arrangements.

“Previously while I was doing shift work, I had a tough time juggling work and caregiving. I was also doing my studies at the same time. With my plate full, I had a tough time attending to my mother’s medical appointments, especially when her appointments were very frequent.”

Thankfully, her current role in SMRT has more predictable hours so she can attend to her family.

This is unlike her previous role as a public relations officer at Singapore Airport Terminal Services:

“As an essential worker in the frontline, it was not easy to balance work with my caregiving responsibilities. It was hard to get colleagues to cover my shifts back then because most of them were affected when Covid-19 hit us all. Mentally, it was also very tiring as I was always worried about my mother’s health, especially during the times when I was not able to be with her.”

Pravita is grateful that SMRT provides two days of eldercare leave per year, which affords flexibility and peace of mind to take care of her mother’s medical appointments.

Besides her job as an operations specialist, Pravita has also been a union leader with the National Transport Workers’ Union for seven years.

Pravita decided to become a union leader after members in her company highlighted during workplace conversations the many issues they had with caregiving.

Apart from wanting to help them, Pravita was also spurred on by her husband’s support and the fact that her father was a union leader too.

In Pravita’s opinion, employers can better support employees’ needs by firstly empathising with each of their situations so that their mental wellbeing is taken care of:

“If the caregivers’ mental wellbeing is affected, there is no productivity at work.”

Besides this, Pravita also feels that flexible work arrangements should be a key form of support for caregivers:

“Flexibility is important because as much as I would like to showcase my ability at work and increase productivity for the company, I also want to do the same for my family by being a strong pillar of support for them when they need me the most. Work-life harmony can only be achieved with flexibility.”

Finally, Pravita believes that being a caregiver is not an impediment to an employee’s dedication and professionalism and hopes that more employers can recognise that time-off for caregiving should not be counted against work performance.

Challenges and support for working caregivers

In an NTUC online survey of 1,000 workers with caregiving responsibilities, employed respondents most frequently reported needing to:

• Take time off (52 per cent)
• Take no-pay leave (43 per cent)
• Take leave frequently (42 per cent)

Some 85 per cent of respondents that were surveyed chose flexible work arrangements (FWA) when asked which form of support would help them the most in managing their work and caregiving.

This was followed by 64 per cent of respondents who chose paid leave for caregiving and 57 per cent who chose financial support (e.g. subsidies, medical/ healthcare insurance).

As different caregivers have different needs and circumstances, policies on FWA need to be flexible enough.

For example, some workers may require remote work arrangements to ensure that they are around to supervise care for their loved ones.

Others may need flexi-hours or staggered hours to ensure that they can ferry their loved ones to and from care service providers.

Thankfully, more employers are recognising the need for paid leave for caregiving.

From 2012 to 2022, the proportion of employers offering paid family care leave, including for elderly parents and parents-in-law, doubled from around 15 per cent to 30 per cent.

In the long run, progressive employers who offer FWA required by workers will benefit in terms of greater attraction and retention of talent.

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This sponsored article by NTUC gave this writer newfound respect for working caregivers.

Top images via Pravita Nithiah Nandan Mrs Subin