照顧老人與職場成功能否兩全
Dear Annie:I’m hoping you and your readers can offer some suggestions. I’m in middle management at a financial services company and my performance has always been great—I’ve been promoted twice in four years—until recently. My parents, who are in their late 80s, have moved to a town nearby to be closer so that I can help them out. They’re in an assisted-living facility, but I need to go with them to doctors’ appointments, stop by to check on them, and make sure they have groceries and medications.
The problem is, my company doesn’t allow flexible hours or telecommuting, and my boss has started making pointed remarks about the times when I am unavoidably late or have to leave early, once or twice a week. A few of my colleagues are dealing with similar situations, so we’re wondering if we have any options, or any legal rights. None of us wants to go work somewhere else to get flextime. Your thoughts? —Save Our Sanity
但問題在於，我的公司不允許彈性工作制或遠程辦公，對於我每週一兩次迫不得已遲到或早退的情況，老闆說了一些很尖銳的話。我的許多同事也在面臨類似的情況，所以請問我們是否有什麼選擇，或者享有哪些法定權利？我們都不希望爲了靈活的辦公時間而跳槽。您有什麼建議？——S.O.S.Dear S.O.S.:Cold comfort though it may be, you and your coworkers are part of a growing national trend. To put your predicament in perspective, a few statistics: about 40 million Americans, most aged 40 to 59, now are helping at least one elderly parent with the tasks of daily living, says a Pew Research study, and, although most caregivers are women, about 45% are men. Moreover, AARP research says most caregivers have jobs, but 70% are obliged to “make workplace adjustments”—coming in late or leaving early, for instance.
親愛的S.O.S.：儘管這樣的安慰有些蒼白，但你與同事的情況並非個例，在美國正呈現日益增長的趨勢。爲了正確看待你面臨的困境，我們來看一系列統計數據：皮尤研究中心（Pew Research）的調查發現，約有4,000萬美國人，目前正在幫助照顧至少一位父母的日常生活，其中大多數人的年齡在40歲至59歲之間。大多數看護者爲女性，男性佔45%。此外，美國退休者協會（AARP）的調查發現，大多數看護者都有工作，其中70%不得不“做一些工作上的調整”——比如遲到或早退。
Yet it seems many employers haven’t caught on. Consider: a scant 5% offers a referral service to employees looking for eldercare resources, according to the 2014 Employee Benefits Survey from the Society for Human Resources Management. Fewer than 1% offers benefits like geriatric counseling or backup eldercare services for emergencies.
但許多僱主似乎並未開始關注這一問題。比如：據人力資源管理協會（Society for Human Resources Management）2014年的員工福利調查發現，爲尋找老人看護資源的員工提供轉介服務的僱主僅有5%。只有不到1%的僱主會提供老人醫療諮詢，或是在緊急情況下提供後援看護服務等福利。As for your legal rights, they’re a bit sketchy. The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its state counterparts say employers have to keep your job open for you if you take an unpaid leave of absence to deal with family issues. In some instances, the time off “can be intermittent, rather than continual, and in increments as small as 15 minutes,” says Steven Bernstein, a partner at employment law firm Fisher & Phillips. “But that doesn’t apply in every situation.”
至於說員工的合法權利，現在還不夠完善。《家庭醫療休假法案》（Family Medical Leave Act，FMLA）和類似的州級法律規定，如果員工爲解決家庭問題而不得不無薪休假，僱主應該保留員工的職位。勞動法律師事務所Fisher & Phillips的合夥人史蒂芬•伯恩斯坦表示，在某些情況下，請假的時間“可以是斷斷續續的，而不是連續的，最少可按15分鐘的增量累計。但這並不適用於所有情況。”A few cities, including Milwaukee, Tampa, Washington D.C., and Atlanta, have passed local statutes prohibiting “family responsibility discrimination.” Since most caregivers are female, the Equal Opportunity Commission and the courts have also found that some federal and state laws against sex bias apply in these matters.
包括密爾沃基、坦帕、華盛頓特區和亞特蘭大在內的許多城市，均通過了地方性法規，禁止“家庭責任歧視”。鑑於大多數看護者是女性，因此公平就業機會委員會（Equal Opportunity Commission）和法院也認爲，某些禁止性別歧視的聯邦和州級法律，同樣適用於這一問題。But for the most part, although caregivers may soon gain more legal protection, this is still “an evolving area,” Bernstein says, adding that, as 77 million Baby Boomers head into old age, “more people are working into their 70s and taking care of relatives in their 90s. It’s something lawmakers, and employers, will have to start recognizing.”
但伯恩斯坦認爲，在大多數情況下，儘管老人看護者可能很快就能得到更多法律保護，但這畢竟是一個“正在發展變化的領域”。他補充道，隨着7,700萬嬰兒潮一代步入老年，“將有越來越多的人一直工作到70多歲，同時還要照顧90多歲的親人。立法者和僱主都必須認識到這一點。”No doubt, if only because eldercare problems are expensive. A 2010 report from MetLife says, for instance, that caregiving costs U.S. businesses from $17 billion to $34 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, and higher medical expenses for stressed-out caregivers.
毫無疑問，即便只是因爲照顧老人的成本高昂這一原因，它也值得僱主關注。例如，美國大都會人壽保險（MetLife）2010年的報告稱，員工照顧老人導致的生產效率下降、缺勤和因看護者不堪重負所產生的更高的醫療成本，每年爲美國公司造成170億至340億美元的損失。So, what can you and your coworkers do now, short of quitting? First, says Jody Gastfriend, vice president of senior services at benefits firm , “There is power in numbers.” She suggests you go as a group to speak with someone in your company’s HR department about the need for flextime.
那麼，除了辭職之外，你和你的同事還能做什麼？首先，福利公司的老人服務副總裁朱迪•加斯特弗萊德表示：“要看到集體的力量。”她建議你們共同去找公司人力資源部的相關人員，談談靈活辦公時間的問題。“Flexible hours are the No. 1 issue here,” she notes, adding that no one is likely to be surprised by your request. “Flextime has become a national conversation, so it’s easier to bring up than it used to be.”
她認爲：“靈活的辦公時間是首要問題。”沒有人會對你們的要求感到意外。“靈活辦公時間已經成爲一個全國性話題，所以現在提出這樣的要求比以往要容易得多。”At the same time, you need to lay your cards on the table with your boss. “Managers now have so many things to contend with, they can’t know what you’re dealing with unless you tell them,” says Lisa Bull, director of employee and leadership learning at benefits consultants Ceridian LifeWorks. She says most bosses are willing to work out flexible hours with a valued employee and that “even a little bit of flexibility can go a long way” in taking some of the pressure off, or at least cutting down on the “pointed remarks” you’ve been receiving.
與此同時，你需要將自己的情況如實告訴自己的老闆。福利諮詢公司Ceridian LifeWorks的員工與領導力培訓總監麗莎•布爾表示：“如今，管理者有太多問題需要處理，如果你不告訴他們，他們不可能瞭解你正面臨怎樣的困境。”她表示，大多數老闆會願意給有價值的員工提供靈活的辦公時間，而且“即使一點點靈活性，對於緩解壓力也有極大幫助”，或者至少會減少你所聽到的那些“尖銳的話。”You should also take a close look at your company’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Bull adds, to see if there are available eldercare resources.
此外，布爾補充道，你還應該仔細研究一下公司的員工援助計劃（EAP），看看公司是否有可用的老人看護資源。“Most people don’t even know the range of what their employer’s EAP provides, until they need to use it,” she notes. Some EAPs will at least connect you with local government agencies and nonprofits that offer eldercare information and support, or with organizations like the National Alliance for Caregiving or the Family Caregiver Alliance.
她說道：“除非必須用到它，否則，大多數人根本不清楚僱主的員工援助計劃包括哪些內容。”某些員工援助計劃至少能幫員工聯繫提供老人看護信息和支持的政府機構和非營利組織，或幫助員工聯繫全美護理聯盟（National Alliance for Caregiving）或家庭看護者聯盟（Family Caregiver Alliance）等組織。For what it’s worth to you now, Bull predicts that more employers will start to offer help with eldercare before too long, because “it’s becoming a huge tool for attracting and retaining talent, especially among Millennials, who put a high priority on work-life balance.”
對現在的你比較有價值的消息是，經布爾預測，越來越多的僱主很快將開始爲老人看護者提供幫助，因爲“這將成爲吸引和留住人才的一個有效工具，尤其是非常看重工作-生活平衡的千禧一代。”So do Boomers. Not surprisingly for a company in the benefits business, Ceridian LifeWorks offers its employees flextime, a generous EAP, and other support for caregivers. And since Bull is taking care of both a 76-year-old parent and a 14-year-old child, she says, “If I were looking for a job somewhere else, I’d look for those same benefits. I’d have no choice.”
對嬰兒潮一代也是如此。Ceridian LifeWorks爲其員工提供靈活的辦公時間，慷慨的員工援助計劃，以及針對老人看護者的其他支持，雖然對於一家福利行業的公司來說，這並不令人感到意外。布爾要同時照顧一位76歲的老人和14歲的孩子，她說道“如果我找其他工作，肯定也要求有這些福利。所以，我沒有選擇。”Talkback:Does your company offer flextime or other eldercare assistance? If you’re a caregiver, what helps you get your job done? Leave a comment below.
反饋：你的公司是否會提供靈活辦公時間或其他老人看護協助？如果你就是一位看護者，那麼，幫助你做好工作的因素都有哪些？歡迎評論。
