#7 of 12
Discrimination Against Caregivers
in the Workplace
Employed caregivers routinely face discrimination, stigma, and marginalization. Read below to learn to spot various times of discrimination to move to a more inclusive workplace.
Flexibility Bias
Flexibility bias is the practice of treating employees differently based on their use of flexible workplace accommodations, or FWA. Those who need access to flexible schedules “are perceived as less committed and competent and receive worse performance evaluations and job assignments, less pay, and fewer promotions than their coworkers who do not use flexible workplace accommodations.” (6)
In fact, employees are often known to hide their caregiving status because of the culture of marginalization in the workplace. Even workers who do not request schedule adjustments but who simply disclose their familial responsibilities to colleagues can be stigmatized as lacking work ethic and career dedication.” (3)
Prescriptive Bias
This discrimination can be masked by a compassionate stance of an employer who might prevent the employee from career opportunities because of the caregiving responsibilities. It is broadly recognized that there are many forms of prescriptive bias, such as inhibiting an employee who is deaf and needs technical support from participating in an important meeting, preventing a new mom from receiving a high-potential client, or stopping an attractive female employee from attending a male-dominated conference ‘for her own good’.
Employers have been trained to identify and eliminate many forms of prescriptive bias, but caregiver prescriptive bias is often unchecked.
Descriptive Bias
Descriptive bias is when a person pays attention, remembers, or makes inferences based on their own stereotypes, where any behavior that does not align with the stereotype is overlooked, forgotten, or ignored. Non-caregivers might be given attributes of ‘dependable and committed’ because the stereotype suggests that they follow the norms of the ideal worker. This judgment might be completely detached from what the employees actual performance is.
Conversely, caregivers might be automatically viewed as ‘less competent’ and ‘unreliable,’ no matter what the actual attendance or achievements are, because it conforms to someone's unconscious or conscious bias.
Leniency Bias
A form of descriptive bias is leniency bias, where the benefit of the doubt is applied to one group but not another, meaning that one needs to “try twice as hard to get half as far.” (2)
One attorney observed leniency bias when she moved from full-time to part-time due to family responsibilities. “Before I went part-time, when I wasn't at my desk, people assumed I was at a business meeting. Afterwards, they assumed I was home with my kids - even if I was with a client. Also, before I went part-time, when I did not give people the turnaround they hoped for, they gave me the benefit of the doubt. All that ended when I went part-time. As a result, my performance evaluations fell, even though the quality of my work did not change.” (2)
Stigma-by-Association
Stigma-by-association is found when there are prejudices against the person receiving care for their disability, illness, or injury, and those biases are then applied to the caregiver. Stigma-by-association is often related to severe mental illnesses, traumatic brain injuries, or other neurological issues.
One social researcher described the effects of this discrimination. “There are multiple pathways whereby stigma experiences may affect the caregiver. First, experiencing stigma or discrimination can cause a cascade of physiologic reactions, contributing to anxiety and other mental health outcomes. Second, caregivers may engage in maladaptive coping strategies, which may include avoidance of social situations, leading to reduced social support and social isolation.” (7)
Professional Gaslighting
Some employers or supervisors will insist that caregivers do not make quality employees because of their personal responsibility. In fact, there are even some studies that show that caregivers miss work more frequently and do not stay employed as long. Instead, Professionals Who Care contends that these negative impressions and case studies are often a form of professional gaslighting.
Gaslighting is a modern term where a person holding power will undermine a victim’s sense of reasoning and self-worth. It can include behaviors of shifting blame, by stating it is the victim’s fault that the perpetrator acts in a certain way, denying wrongdoing, or the perpetrator not taking responsibility of any actions that contributed to a problem. When employers view employed caregivers as a liability because of increased time off requests and potential for quitting, they are not considering their own role in creating an inflexible and toxic workplace.
In contrast, a caregiver described her change in official time off requests once her employer developed inclusive and flexible policies. “‘I’ve had zero sickness, zero compassionate leave, zero carer’s leave and when they are short of staff, I am the first person who will come and help.” (5) Likewise, research showed in California where the implementation of family leave benefits led to increased retention, loyalty, and productivity.
Leadership can take responsibility for their role in developing a healthier employer-employee relationship with decreased discrimination and increased inclusivity for caregivers.
Ideal Worker Standard
1. Ammerman, C., & Groysberg, B. (2021, May 26). Pandemic's uneven toll shows most 'workplaces still don't work for women'. Newsweek. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.newsweek.com/2021/06/11/pandemics-uneven-toll-shows-most-workplaces-still-dont-work-women-1594721.html 2. Bornstein, S., Williams, J. C., & Painter, G. R. (2012). Discrimination against Mothers Is the Strongest Form of Workplace Gender Discrimination: Lessons from US Caregiver Discrimination Law. International Journal of Comparative Labour Law & Industrial Relations, 28(1), 45–62. 3. Cech, E. A., & O’Connor, L. T. (2017). ‘Like second-hand smoke’: the toxic effect of workplace flexibility bias for workers’ health. Community, Work & Family, 20(5), 543–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2017.1371673 4. Greenfield, J. C., Hasche, L., Bell, L. M., & Johnson, H. (2018). Exploring how workplace and social policies relate to caregivers’ financial strain. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 61(8), 849–866. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2018.1487895 5. Hackett, K. (2020). When caring never stops. Nursing Standard, 35(2), 19–21. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.35.2.19.s12 6. O’Connor, L. T., & Cech, E. A. (2018). Not Just a Mothers’ Problem: The Consequences of Perceived Workplace Flexibility Bias for All Workers. Sociological Perspectives, 61(5), 808–829. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121418768235 7. Phelan, S. M., Griffin, J. M., Hellerstedt, W. L., Sayer, N. A., Jensen, A. C., Burgess, D. J., & van Ryn, M. (2011). Perceived stigma, strain, and mental health among caregivers of veterans with traumatic brain injury. Disability and Health Journal, 4(3), 177–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2011.03.003 8. Roman, C., Bane, S., & Opthof, E. (2021). How Employers and States Can Support the Essential Workforce of Family Caregivers. American Journal of Health Promotion, 35(7), 1045–1047. https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211030142g 9. Templeman, M. E., Badana, A. N. S., & Haley, W. E. (2020). The Relationship of Caregiving to Work Conflict and Supervisor Disclosure With Emotional, Physical, and Financial Strain in Employed Family Caregivers. Journal of Aging and Health, 32(7–8), 698–707. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264319848579