As France gears up to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the national carer’s day, which is celebrated on 6 October, Nathalie Gateau, director for engagement and social stewardship at Apicil, the French social protection group, explains why companies must support their employees who act as carers. She underlines the need to create dedicated forums for discussion and covers the creation of new respite centres. Launched on a trial basis in 2017 as part of a partnership involving Apicil, the regional health agency, local authorities in Lyon and the France Répit foundation, the project set out to provide a location for carers to come and recharge their batteries and is now being replicated elsewhere. A second respite centre (maison du répit) is to be opened in the Ile-de-France region, and then around a dozen overall are to be set up across France.
What is the benefit to a company of helping its employees who are caregivers?
It is estimated that between 8 and 11 million people in France provide care to dependent relative and some 4 million of those are in work. These people are likely to be affected by exhaustion and, as a result, have periods of absence for their company. Such individuals also run the risk of needing care themselves because they may, at some point, show signs of extreme stress, fatigue or even burn-out.
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