For publicist Corey Herscu and his wife, juggling work and parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic has been emotionally and physically draining, even with daycare and childcare filling in some of the gaps.
But suddenly finding itself faced with another round of school closings after nearly two years on the pandemic’s roller coaster is another level of burnout, said Herscu, whose wife is a teacher.
“It’s emotionally draining,” said the father of three children, the oldest of whom is six and now studying from home.
But despite the daily struggle, Herscu knows that his family is luckier than many to have some childcare support and an employer that is flexible and allows him to rearrange his day as needed.
“This is how all employers should be right now,” said Herscu, who works for Toronto-based VerbFactory.
After all, he said, when it comes to parenting, “burnout is not an option.”
Experts say employers need to be more flexible than ever to accommodate the latest wave of remote learning, as parents are pushed to the limit.
“Parental mental health has been really compromised throughout this pandemic,” said Paula Allen, global research leader at human resources services and technology company LifeWorks (formerly Morneau Shepell).
For employees who have children at home, flexibility makes all the difference, Allen said.
Employers should prioritize communicating to employees what relief options it’s available to them, he said, whether it’s compressed work weeks, mental health days or short-term leave, of which there has been a massive increase.
It’s also crucial that employers trust their employees to determine what works best for them, or they risk exacerbating mental strain, he said.
“Lack of confidence creates anxiety.”
At the communications company Edelman Canada, a company-wide email was sent to provide support to parents immediately after the school’s closure was announced on Monday, said Bianca Boyd, chief operating officer.
In an email, Boyd said team members and managers are helping each other, taking a “community approach to get there in these wild times.”
“I think it’s important for all of us in Canadian businesses to remember how fortunate we are to be able to work safely from home and not compromise the product of work with a little help from our friends on our teams,” said Boyd.
At HSBC, the focus hasn’t changed since the start of the pandemic, according to the company’s head of human resources, Kim Toews.
“It’s just about being as flexible as possible based on individual employee needs,” he said.
Whether an employee is unable to attend meetings for a set amount of time, needs mental health services, requires additional technology at home for remote learning for their children, or requests a compressed workweek, HSBC makes sure their workers know their options. Toews said.
“If you don’t do that for the employees … you won’t get the best of them, plainly speaking,” he said. “So it is in our best interest to do that and work around the requirements of each employee.”
Employees at insurance giant Sun Life are being given more personal days and time off for vaccinations, spokeswoman Nadine Jahangir Gerrard said, and team leaders are encouraged to make accommodations.
“To assist parents during this phase specifically, we have reinforced the important role leaders play in being empathetic and accommodating to support team members who need flexibility,” Gerrard said in an email.
KPMG spokeswoman Caroline Van Hasselt said in an email that early in the pandemic, the firm established a dedicated portal for parents to “access tutors, companies that help with meal preparation and a variety of other resources. to support them ”.
Internal workplace investigator Sheryl Sarfin and her husband, an attorney, have everything planned for this week and next: They each take one vacation day a week and bring their four-year-old son, who is in kindergarten, home. grandparents when possible.
But despite being in what Sarfin calls the “best case” for a parent during COVID-19, he can’t imagine how the family will survive beyond the current two weeks of remote learning, as his son needs supervision. constant and Help with online school.
“Obviously we will have to think of something else. But if I look too far ahead, I get too anxious, ”she said.
Sarfin’s employer is as flexible and accommodating as an employer can be, he said.
Like Herscu, she is well aware of how lucky she is.
“It makes my heart bleed for people who are less fortunate and who do not have as much support.”
Reference-www.thestar.com