As a result of school closures, parents have had to adapt to working from home, being responsible for childcare and the added pressure of home-schooling their children. This article will provide tips on how you can help employees adapt to working from home and to relieve any added stresses of childcare.

Consider Offering Increased Flexibility or Leave

It is vital for companies to recognise that employees with children may be struggling to juggle their workload and the pressure of childcare and they may benefit from new flexible work arrangements, altered role responsibilities or the option for part-time workers to split their hours over more days. Companies also have the option to introduce furlough, parental leave or unpaid leave.

As a result of the previous lockdowns and the change to legislation it may be the case that employees have holidays left from the previous year. Now would be a good time for them to take it to relive the pressure of balancing their work life and childcare.

Management and Communication

Companies are encouraged to change their perception of what warrants ‘a good day’s work’, they are advised to monitor output and not just the hours worked. Businesses should maintain communication with employees to assess how they are managing their workload and if they need alterations; checking in with employees through phone calls instead of texts may also be more efficient to assess your employee’s health.

Welcome Children into Working Culture

Employers are encouraged to embrace family culture into the workplace for example, taking a more relaxed approach to hearing children in the background of conference calls or on camera in Zoom meetings.

A welcomed idea for companies to adopt may be a forum for home-learning ideas for children and parents to share. It is so important not to pressure employees with children to pretend that everything is normal, children can cause disruption and a relaxed approach would be beneficial.

Be Aware of Parents’ Wellbeing

Above all, monitoring and assessing the wellbeing of employees should be introduced into day-to-day home working. Wellbeing calls are beneficial for employees and employers alike and can relive some pressure parents face during these lockdowns.

More information

For more information on the Home Working and Flexible working, or any other HR queries, get in touch by visiting our website www.thshr.co.uk, call us on 01633246666 or email enquiries@thshr.co.uk

Or, feel free to read more on this topic by visiting:

COVID-19: How to reduce stress and maintain a work-life balance while working from home – The People Profession: now and for the future – CIPD Blogs – CIPD Community.