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Kiljon Shukullari, HR Advisory Manager
(Last updated )
Kiljon Shukullari, HR Advisory Manager
(Last updated )
Back-to-school season means bracing for heavy foot traffic in the malls, long streams of red brake lights on the roads, and the excitement of the new school year buzzing through the air. Employers, however, must also prepare for the potential influx of time-off requests and absenteeism from their employees who are parents or guardians.
While a high volume of PTO requests may not be the most ideal situation for employers, creating a family-friendly workplace to support employees who are parents has several benefits that could positively impact business.
Creating a family-friendly workplace through policies and benefits is especially beneficial during the peak of the back-to-school season.
Providing a family-friendly work environment contributes to:
1. Offer flexible work
The 2022 Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics Canada found that a flexible work schedule was an essential job factor for 64.7% of employees. Flexible work includes flexible hours, work from home arrangements, extended lunch breaks, and holiday substitutions.
Employees value control of their work hours, but this is especially important for employees with children. This level of flexibility allows parents to manage their professional and personal responsibilities more efficiently.
Introducing a flexible work policy also has several benefits for employers, including:
Flexible work arrangements allow employees better work-life balance, which significantly benefits both employers and employees.
2. Review your wellness policy
Back to school can be a very stressful time for parents of all stages. Offering wellness benefits to your employees could help ease the tension of the season, which could increase focus at work. Some benefits employers could include in their wellness policy include:
3. Have a policy on disconnecting from work
A right to disconnect policy encourages a work-life balance and is beneficial to both employers and employees. Employees who have the right to disconnect from work may be able to spend more quality time with family and friends, finish household chores, or just be able to relax and unwind after a hectic day.
For employers, the right to disconnect may result in happier and more productive staff. This may improve employee retention levels, and boost employee morale.
Although Ontario is the only province at present that requires provincially regulated employers with 25 or more employees to implement a right to disconnect policy at their workplace, it is a good practice that employers in other provinces could also adopt.
Life with children can sometimes be unpredictable, and this is no different for your employees who are parents. If an employee calls out at the last minute due to a family emergency with their child, there are several ways you can handle their request:
Employers must remember they have a duty to accommodate their employees up until undue hardship. Duty to accommodate is necessary to prevent or reduce discrimination against employees who may need special arrangements.
Providing support to employees who may need it during back-to-school season is a great way for employers to ensure productivity does not suffer, while avoiding hefty discrimination claims. It is also important to note that creating family-friendly policies must be fair, accessible, and applicable to all employees.
Whether you need to draft a flexible work policy, calculate correct leave and vacation pay, or update your employment contracts, we’ve got you covered. Peninsula’s experts can help you develop company policies, and with any other HR, health and safety and employee management matters that may arise.
To learn more about how Peninsula’s services can support your business, call an expert today at 1 (833) 247-3652
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