A Guide for Caregiving and Employment

The Labor Market Integration Center (CIME) is launching a Guide to Caregiving and Employment for employability intervention staff. This guide was produced thanks to the financial support and the participation of L'APPUI Estrie for caregivers of seniors.

The physical, psychological, and financial health of the many people who have to cope with their work life, their family life, and the responsibilities they’ve assumed free of charge for relatives who are losing their autonomy occupies an important place in the reality of the labor market. CIME has designed the guide to equip the teams accompanying caregivers in the situation of close support in terms of job search and job retention. Topics covered include caregiver needs, guilt, work-life balance, compassion fatigue, transition process, integration and retention, accommodation with employers, and transfer of skills.

This project is in line with CIME'S mission of improving the economic situation of women, and of conducting research and development in socio-professional integration. The Research and Development component of CIME aims to consolidate employability expertise and equip the personnel involved with the main employability organizations in Estrie, through studies and research in collaboration with the community, just as the publication of this guide on attendant care and employment shows. According to Geneviève Collette, Executive Director of CIME, In Quebec, one in four adults is a caregiver, 58 per cent of whom are women, and there are 45,000 caregivers in Estrie alone. Work-studyfamily-caregiving reconciliation is essential to promote women's place in the labor market, she explained.

CIME supports women in their job search or job retention, and also aims to promote this integration in a systemic approach by raising the awareness of employers and the educational community about the reality of women in the labor market. "In a context of labor scarcity, it is essential for employers to consider the reality of caregivers and to integrate work-study-family-caregiving into the workplace," said Natalie Durocher, Project Manager at CIME. “In addition to its full range of employability services for women, whether for individual or group intervention, CIME also offers personalized services to employers. In fact, our expert advisory services on women's integration into the labor market, in a mixture of pay equity and work-family-study-caregiver balance are adapted to the reality of employers with retention challenges.

The Guide on Caregiving and Employment is available for download on the CIME website, at cime-emploi.com.