According to recent studies, as many as 22 million family caregivers are employed. Here are some hints that may help if you are one of them:
- Talk to your employer and let them know what is happening.
- Ask if your company has an employee assistance program to help caregivers.
- Inquire if working part-time or job sharing is feasible. Ask about your company’s flextime policy and see if you can flex on the days you have to take care of caregiving tasks.
- Do your caregiving tasks on your own time such as your lunch hour. Keep your caregiving role and working role as separate as possible.
- Find out about community resources that you can use to support you in your caregiving role and give services to your loved one while you are at work.
Staff from the Westchester County Family Caregiver Support Program can present free “Lunch & Learn” educational programs to Westchester County businesses, so employed caregivers can get helpful information at their place of employment.
For further information, call the Family Caregiver Support Program at (914) 813-6441.