Position Summary
There are more than 5.6 million employees in Canada with adult/elder care responsibilities. Lack of workplace support can result in caregiver-employees leaving the workforce, absenteeism, early retirement, reduced productivity, and avoidable costs to employers. Given the changing nature of families and caregiving, all workplaces will be affected by these caregiving demands and it is incumbent upon Canadian workplaces to implement caregiver-friendly workplace practices in order to appropriately accommodate caregiver-employees, while also sustaining efficiencies in the workplace.
CSA Group (Canadian Standards Association) in partnership with McMaster University and other partners is developing a Canadian Caregiver-Friendly Workplace Programs Standard, which will provide rigorous and consistent guidance for employers. Our overall goal is to develop a standard that will be used by employers, other end-users (e.g., employees, insurance companies), organizations representing labour, government, and society in general, to better accommodate caregiver-employees in meeting the multiple demands of both paid employment and unpaid caregiving.
Project Partners include CSA Group (Canadian Standards Association), McMaster University, Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA), Canadian Home Care Association (CHCA), Canadian Caregiver Coalition (CCC), Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), Unifor the Union, as well as a number of national and international research institutes focused on care, aging, families, work and well-being.
A number of implementation tools are also planned for development to support the implementation of the Caregiver-Friendly Workplace Programs Standard. The long-term goal is to not only develop the Standard and associated tools, but to implement and evaluate them, providing the evidence-based research needed for scaling them up across Canada and the globe.
CSA Group and McMaster University are now in the process of identifying stakeholders to participate in and support the development of the standards development project.
Role Responsibilities
- Promote the HRPA membership, professional designation and Ottawa Chapter to members
- Active participation and willingness to work on a committee electronically and in-person
- Attendance at meetings and commitment to work on project over approximately 18 months
- Ability to work in a multi-stakeholder environment, following the principles of consensus
- Strong interest and knowledge of caregiver-friendly workplace programs
Benefits of Participation
- Participate in the development of a national voluntary standard
- Influence the content of the standard with respect to issues that are important to you, your organization and HRPA
- Stay abreast of developments in Canada in this area
- Collaborate and build relationships with other members
Essential Skills
- Subject matter expertise and ability to represent the HR field of work
- Attention to detail
- Networking skills
- Openness to collaboration and consensus building
Time Commitment
5-10 Hours per month
Interested individuals are invited to submit a brief bio along with a short statement outlining their interest and ability to contribute to the work of this new committee. To submit your application for membership, please send to: nicki.islic@csagroup.org.
Before applying to be an HRPA Volunteer, please make sure that you have read and understand the HRPA Volunteer Code of Conduct. If you have any questions, contact HRPA.