A Project Manager explains the importance of time off when caring for loved ones and dealing with bereavement.
The half a day a month wellbeing time previously went some way to help balance my care responsibilities at a very difficult time. These responsibilities had increased immediately prior during and after Covid as my parents were getting older and my Dad had cancer which progressed during the lock downs. His end-of-life care and funeral were impacted by Covid restrictions and after making those arrangements I had to go through a time-consuming legal process to get a Court Order to act on behalf of his sister (my aunt) who was in a care home. Caring for loved ones who are suffering and at the end of their life takes a huge physical, mental and emotional toll which has to be paid for at a later date. At the time all your focus is on caring for your loved ones. For me and many others all of these things were complicated by Covid. Covid caused the death of other family members, it restricted access to hospital and care homes and placed restrictions on funerals. All of this has left a long term and wide-reaching legacy on people’s mental health. TfGM’s bereavement leave is much less than when I worked for a local council and it allows only enough time to make funeral arrangements (my leave was already depleted due to caring responsibilities).
There is a long-standing crisis in elder care and the care that individuals provide to their family and friends is at no cost to the state/tax-payer. It makes sense to make some concessions to this so that experienced staff can stay in the workforce and to reduce time lost to sick leave if people are stretched beyond breaking point. For me going off sick is the very last resort and I would always rather receive greater support to stay in work. There is a decline in people over 50 in the workforce but there is very little done to assist those people to stay in the workforce. This particularly affects women, who often assume a care role, sometimes sandwiched with child-care responsibilities. Only very recently (6 April) the Carer’s Leave Act has come into force – this gives employees the right to up to one week’s leave per year to care for someone but this leave is unpaid and also requires advance notice to be given. When you are responsible for one or more elderly people and they have complex health issues, as most elderly people do, this quickly depletes your annual leave allowance. I have prioritised buying additional leave to allow me more time to spend with my loved ones at the end of their lives but I am very aware this may not be an option for some people and making this choice will be very difficult for those on low income and particularly now that food and fuel costs are so high.
A reduction in the working week to 36 hours without loss of pay would be a small step that would help those juggling caring responsibilities or dealing with family crises, particularly for those of us with flexitime.