Submission

Report to the Federal Labour Review Commission

The Saskatoon Caregiver Information Centre Action committee is pleased to present our views to the Federal Labour Standards Review Commission. We appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of our adherents and clients, many of whom combine employment and care of dependent adults and elders.

The Saskatoon Caregiver Information Centre is a resource centre within the non-profit organization, Saskatoon Council on Aging Inc. The goals of the Caregiver Centre are to:

• Provide information, emotional support and access to resources for family caregivers to meet their caregiving responsibilities,
• Increase society's awareness of the needs and contributions of family caregivers in the community.

A family caregiver is anyone who cares for and gives unpaid support to a family member, friend or neighbor who is frail or disabled and who lives at home or in a care facility.

It is estimated that family (informal) caregivers provide 80% of the required care in the home. (Guberman 1999). Women; wife, sister, daughter, and daughter-in-law provide sixty percent of the care. On average, caregivers provide care for more than two years. Long term caregivers, more than one year, are more likely to report unmet needs and needs change over time. The largest proportion of family caregivers are women ages 45 to 65.

Family caregiving has become more than an act of love and familial responsibility. It has become an essential element of our health and long term care system. The contribution of caregivers would cost the Canadian health care system more than $5 billion annually if delivered by a paid work force. (Fast, Eales, Keeting 2001). Family caregivers lift a tremendous burden off the health care system.

Issues that Pertain Directly to the Federal Labour Review Commission:

Since the adoption of Part III of the Canada Labour Code in 1965, there have been remarkable social and family changes. Participation of women in the workforce has risen from 31% to 60%, dual earner families has increased from 33% to 72%, the number of lone parent families has risen from 44% to 63% (Federal LSR Backgrounder). The population is aging; Saskatchewan demographics indicate 13.5% of the population is 65 and older. This number is expected to rise to 21% by 2041.

A growing number of workers are being called upon to care for an ailing family member. In a recent Conference Board of Canada employee survey almost one in four respondents said that they or others in their households provided care or support in some form to an elderly family member or friend. The proportion of employees who care both for elderly family members and have children at home is now 15%, compared to 9.5% a decade ago (FLRS Backgrounder).

Some of these changes in the composition of the workforce, as well as in family and work structures, are resulting in greater work-family stress. In 2001, high stress on the job was twice as prevalent as it was 10 years earlier, from 13% to 27% (Duxbury and Higgins 2001).

Saskatchewan Statistics:

The 1998 Saskatchewan Work and Family Survey (Duxbury and Higgins) of over 5400 Saskatchewan employees from an all-sector sample showed:

• 57% of employees reported some eldercare responsibility
• 22% report doing four hours a week eldercare
  • Men 3.4 hours per week
  • Women 4.4 hours per week
• 78% are dual income earners
• 77% are parents
• 17% are in the "sandwich generation" caring for children at home as well as elders.

In terms of work and family conflict:

• 27% reported high work/family interference
• 54% reported high overload
• 41% reported high job stress
• 53% reported high life stress
• 29% reported high burnout
  
  (Duxbury,L and Chris Higgins 1998).

Employees experiencing high work/life conflict have absenteeism rates more than two times those of other employees, from 5.9 days per year to 13.2 days per year. The direct costs of absenteeism due to high work/life conflict have been estimated to be in the $3 billion to $5 billion range per year (Duxbury and Higgins 2003).

Another study estimated that the health care related costs caused by role overload (having too much to do in too little time) amounts to roughly $6 billion per year, while the medical treatment sought by employees burdened by high levels of caregiver strain cost $5 billion (Duxbury and Higgins 2004).

Other impacts related to high work/family interference include:

• Career interruption
• Time lost from work
• Financial loss, now and in the future as pension/benefits are forfeited
• Job loss (reported by women)

The Saskatoon Caregiver Information Centre and the Work and Family Unit Saskatchewan Labour, co-hosted a one day conference titled The Economics of Eldercare: The Bottomline for the Workplace, September, 2001. Ninety-nine persons representing employees and employers attended the conference. The purpose of the conference to:

1. Increase awareness of the role and impact of caregiving in the workplace
2. Explore solutions to meet the needs of both employer and employees.

The interest in this conference reflected the strong need employees and employers have in doing something to help employees with eldercare responsibilities.

Work- Life Balance and Family Caregiving,
Some recommendations we would like the Commission to consider:

How does government ensure all workers have access to the resources they need to achieve work-life balance in the face of increasing family care demands?

The goal is to maintain a healthy and productive workforce.

The following recommendations seek to assist employers and employees achieve this goal by providing work life options which will reduce work/family interference:

1. Family Responsibility Leave. All workers should have the right to take 10-15 days per year to deal with personal and family responsibilities, including disruptions to child care and elder care arrangements, dealing with household illness, domestic emergencies, and medical appointments (their own or those of a family member requiring their assistance). Three of these days should be with pay.
2. Expand eligibility for Compassionate Care Leave and Benefits. The government has shown great insight to make this first step to secure employment insurance benefits for caregivers facing the impending death of their loved one. Although the Federal Labor Standards Review Commission deals with employment leaves, we would encourage you to communicate with Canada Employment Insurance to see that all employees could have access to this benefit in an expanded form as described below:
   1. waive the 2 week wait period
   2. expand the definition of family member to reflect the reality of relationship responsibilities:

   Suggested definition of a family member to include the employee's spouse or common-law spouse, parent, child, including a child to whom the employee stands in place of the parent, brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, step-mother, step-father, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, and any other relative who permanently resides in the employee's household.

3. Options for work hours. All workers with dependent care responsibilities should have the right to flexibility of work hours without fear of penalty or penalty to meet work and family responsibility. Where feasible and of the choosing of the employee options for work hour flexibility may include:
   • Compressed work week
   • Flex time
   • Work at home
   • Job sharing
   • Temporary reduction of hours
   • Leave without pay options (Saskatchewan ensures its workers have access to 12 days per year of job protection to care for children and elders)
   • Employee leave-sharing where employees donate a portion of their leave time to other workers in need
   • Gradual return to work policies
4. Employee and Family Assistance Programs. We would like the Commission to modify the Code to add provision for part-time workers. Part-time workers should have access to pro-rated benefits such as Employee and Family Assistance Programs paid by the employer that will assist them to care for dependents and achieve work-life balance.

   Some services needed are:

   • Counseling
   • Information/training for caregiving
   • Assistance with care management
   • Referral to community services that reduce caregiver strain
   • On site adult day care (respite) services

Conclusion:

The Federal Labor Review Commission has the opportunity to set the gold standard for the employee and employer relationship. All workers will benefit from the standards set by this review. Employees depend on labour legislation to ensure they have basic employment standards, rights and benefits. The number of workers in non-traditional employment relationships is increasing. Labour legislation will be an important means of ensuring that employment standards facilitate work-life balance for workers in all types of work relationships.

A review of this importance has far reaching implications for employees and employers now and in the next twenty years. Take into consideration the trends of population aging, the role of family in the care of its members, and diminishing health care resources to support an aging population and its aging workforce.

Thank you for the opportunity to represent family caregivers for your Review.

Saskatoon Caregiver Information Centre,
Co-Chairs, Saskatoon Caregiver Action Committee
Colette Guzik
Sarah Nixon-Jackle

Contact:
Colette Guzik,
Co-Chair, Saskatoon Caregiver Action Committee
201- 505 12th Street East
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 4H3
306-931-1158
cguzik@sasktel.net

References:

Duxbury, Linda and Chris Higgins (1998). Work-Life Balance in Saskatchewan: Realities and Challenges. Government of Saskatchewan.

Duxbury, Linda, Chris Higgins and Karen Johnson (2004). Exploring the Links Between Work-Life Conflict and Demands on Canada's Health Care System. Public Health Agency of Canada.

Duxbury, Linda and Chris Higgins (2001). Work-Life Balance in the New Millennium: Where are We? Where Do We Need to Go? CPRN Discussion Paper No. W/12.

Fast, J., J, Eales and N. Keeting (2001). Economic Impact of Health , Income Security, and Labour Policies on Informal Caregivers of Frail Seniors.Status of Women: Ottawa.

Federal Labour Standards Review Backgrounder, (2005). Government of Canada.

Guberman, N. (1999). Caregivers and Caregiving: New Trends and Their Implications for Policy, Final Report. Health Canada: Ottawa.