IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i4p2194-d749938.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cost Implications from an Employer Perspective of a Workplace Intervention for Carer-Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Regina Ding

    (School of Earth Environment and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada)

  • Amiram Gafni

    (Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada)

  • Allison Williams

    (School of Earth Environment and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada)

Abstract

In developed countries, population aging due to advances in living standards and healthcare infrastructure means that the care associated with chronic and degenerative diseases is becoming more prevalent across all facets of society—including the labour market. Informal caregiving, that is, care provision performed by friends and family, is expected to increase in the near future in Canada, with implications for workplaces. Absenteeism, presenteeism, work satisfaction and retention are known to be worse in employees who juggle the dual role of caregiving and paid employment, representing losses to workplaces’ bottom line. Recent discourse on addressing the needs of carer-employees (CEs) in the workplace have been centred around carer-friendly workplace policies. This paper aims to assess the potential cost implication of a carer-friendly workplace intervention implemented within a large-sized Canadian workplace. The goal of the intervention was to induce carer-friendly workplace culture change. A workplace-wide survey was circulated twice, prior to and after the intervention, capturing demographic variables, as well as absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover and impact on coworkers. Utilizing the pre-intervention timepoint as a baseline, we employed a cost implication analysis to quantify the immediate impact of the intervention from the employer’s perspective. We found that the intervention overall was not cost-saving, although there were some mixed effects regarding some costs, such as absenteeism. Non-tangible benefits, such as changes to employee morale, satisfaction with supervisor, job satisfaction and work culture, were not monetarily quantified within this analysis; hence, we consider it to be a conservative analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Regina Ding & Amiram Gafni & Allison Williams, 2022. "Cost Implications from an Employer Perspective of a Workplace Intervention for Carer-Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2194-:d:749938
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2194/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2194/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kin Fai Ellick Wong & Cecilia Cheng, 2020. "The Turnover Intention–Behaviour Link: A Culture‐Moderated Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(6), pages 1174-1216, September.
    2. Peters, Pascale & Blomme, Robert Jan, 2019. "Forget about ‘the ideal worker’: A theoretical contribution to the debate on flexible workplace designs, work/life conflict, and opportunities for gender equality," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(5), pages 603-613.
    3. Alison M. Konrad & Robert Mangel, 2000. "The impact of work‐life programs on firm productivity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(12), pages 1225-1237, December.
    4. Eva Gorgenyi-Hegyes & Robert Jeyakumar Nathan & Maria Fekete-Farkas, 2021. "Workplace Health Promotion, Employee Wellbeing and Loyalty during Covid-19 Pandemic—Large Scale Empirical Evidence from Hungary," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-22, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Judith Cavazos-Arroyo & Aurora Irma Máynez-Guaderrama & Netzemany Rodríguez-Alonso, 2023. "Efectos del conflicto trabajo-ocio: un análisis multigrupo entre centennials y millennials," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, vol. 39(166), pages 37-49, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. He Lu Calvin Ong & Senthu Jeyaraj, 2014. "Work–Life Interventions," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(3), pages 21582440145, July.
    2. Maria Johann, 2022. "CSR Strategy in Tourism during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Filiz Tabak & Aharon Tziner & Or Shkoler & Edna Rabenu, 2021. "The Complexity of Heavy Work Investment (HWI): A Conceptual Integration and Review of Antecedents, Dimensions, and Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
    4. Claudiu George Bocean & Luminita Popescu & Anca Antoaneta Varzaru & Costin Daniel Avram & Anica Iancu, 2023. "Work-Life Balance and Employee Satisfaction during COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Li, Can, 2020. "Enhancing or inhibiting: The impact of investment in political ties on the link between firm innovation and productivity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    6. Monteiro, Natália P. & Straume, Odd Rune & Valente, Marieta, 2021. "When does remote electronic access (not) boost productivity? Longitudinal evidence from Portugal," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    7. Christopher S. Reina & Suzanne J. Peterson & Zhen Zhang, 2017. "Adverse Effects of CEO Family-to-Work Conflict on Firm Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 228-243, April.
    8. Patricia Acosta-Vargas & Sylvia Novillo-Villegas & Belén Salvador-Acosta & Manuel Calvopina & Nikolaos Kyriakidis & Esteban Ortiz-Prado & Luis Salvador-Ullauri, 2022. "Accessibility Analysis of Worldwide COVID-19-Related Information Portals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Masako Darrough & Heedong Kim & Emanuel Zur, 2019. "The Impact of Corporate Welfare Policy on Firm-Level Productivity: Evidence from Unemployment Insurance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 795-815, October.
    10. Ahmet Cengiz Ucar & Lutfihak Alpkan & Meral Elci, 2021. "The Effects of Person–Organization Fit and Turnover Intention on Employees’ Creative Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, December.
    11. Katarina Kostelić & Morena Paulišić & Marli Gonan Božac, 2023. "Modeling Conflicts at Work: The Case of Elementary School Employees in Croatia," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-31, January.
    12. Stela Zhivkova, 2022. "Sustainability in the Companies Practices," European Journal of Marketing and Economics Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 5, January -.
    13. Alexandre Garel & Arthur Petit-Romec, 2021. "Engaging Employees for the Long Run: Long-Term Investors and Employee-Related CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 35-63, November.
    14. Sonja Sperber, 2021. "Invisible women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 1985-1989, September.
    15. Nurul Mohammad Zayed & Md. Mamunur Rashid & Saad Darwish & Md. Faisal-E-Alam & Vitalii Nitsenko & K. M. Anwarul Islam, 2022. "The Power of Compensation System (CS) on Employee Satisfaction (ES): The Mediating Role of Employee Motivation (EM)," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-16, November.
    16. Nieto, María Jesús & Rodríguez, Alicia & Hernández, Virginia, 2022. "International sourcing and the productivity of SMEs in transition countries: Formal and informal ‘region effects’ and the communist footprint," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 347-359.
    17. Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska & Piotr Bialowolski & Carlued Leon & Tamar Koosed & Eileen McNeely, 2020. "Psychological Climate for Caring and Work Outcomes: A Virtuous Cycle," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-18, September.
    18. Su Ol Kim & Sun-Hee Moon, 2021. "Factors Influencing Turnover Intention among Male Nurses in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-11, September.
    19. Mahsa NAGHSHINEH, 2022. "The Effect Of Job Self-Efficacy On Job Engagement With An Emphasis On The Role Of Work-Life Balance. Case Study: National Land And Housing Organization Of Tehran," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 81-100, May.
    20. Hope, Ole-Kristian & Li, Congcong & Lin, An-Ping & Rabier, MaryJane, 2021. "Happy analysts," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2194-:d:749938. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.