Members of your team may be caring for elderly parents. Let them know that you recognize what they’re coping with. You may also consider making some adjustments to your business to help valuable employees balance their family and work lives.

“Review your employee benefits plan to allow employees to take a certain number of days off for eldercare needs rather than having to take vacation time or pretend they’re sick,” says Maureen Osis, president of ElderWise in Calgary.

“Can your business allow flexible hours?” she asks. “A woman I know recently left a job for another at which she doesn’t have to go in as early. She cares for her father in the mornings and makes up the time at the office in the early evening. If you can retain staff by allowing flexibility, you’ll save money on hiring and training replacements.”

Alexis Wise, vice president of LifeSpeak Inc. , a Toronto-based company that designs workplace programs to help employees maintain work/life quality, suggests creating peer support groups in the workplace: “They’ll have someone they can run ideas by and get referrals from.”

Osis says including articles on eldercare in your workplace newsletter will show staff you are sensitive to the issues they face.

“And, for employees who work in a common area,” she adds, “provide a room where they can make private telephone calls if they need to talk to Mom or her doctor.”

— ROSEMARY MCCRACKEN