Respect, Flexibility, Results: Making Work Work for Caregivers

Genesis Maldonado
5 days ago
3 min read

Article: Eldercare Demands and Time Theft: Integrating Family-to-Work Conflict and Spillover–Crossover Perspectives by Yisheng Peng, Steve M. Jex, Wenqin Zhang, Jie Ma, and Russell A. Matthews.

Fun note: one of the authors, Dr. Steve Jex, is a University of Central Florida (UCF) professor I know personally and my current lab professor. I also do I-O psychology research at UCF, so this topic is close to home. Check him out on his UCF page (https://sciences.ucf.edu/psychology/person/steve-jex/).

The quick gist

This 5-week diary study followed 82 dual-earner couples caring for an older family member. Each week, both partners reported eldercare demands, family-to-work conflict (home life interfering with work), and time theft at work (extra or longer breaks, leaving early, daydreaming, handling personal matters on the clock).

What showed up is simple and practical:

Eldercare demands → more family-to-work conflict for each partner that same week.
Conflict crosses over between partners. If one partner feels home is crowding work, the other partner often feels it too.
Eldercare demands → more time theft at work that week for both partners.
Conflict explains the link. Eldercare demands increase conflict, and conflict increases time theft.
Lagged effects matter. One week’s eldercare demands predicted next week’s conflict, which predicted time theft two weeks later.
No big gender differences in these links.

Why this matters to business owners

Many of your best people are quietly balancing eldercare. When home pulls hard, employees protect scarce energy and time. That can become lost work time in small ways. Not because they do not care, but because they are trying to cope. If you reduce the conflict and add a little flexibility, you protect attention, output, and goodwill.

What to do about it

Here is a simple owner’s playbook you can start using this month:

Normalize eldercare realities. Say it out loud in policy and in meetings. People manage better when they do not have to hide.
Offer small, real flex. Let teams shift a start or end time, swap a lunch, or bank an hour on light days for heavy days. Write down the rules so it feels fair.
Use short coverage plans. Create a two-person backup grid for phones, client handoffs, and approvals so a caregiver can step out without clogging the workflow.
Coach family-supportive supervisors. The train leads to asking about load, stagger deadlines, and help re-prioritize after tough weeks. A supportive boss lowers conflict fast.
Design quick relief valves. Allow a 10-minute reset after urgent eldercare calls, then help the person triage the day. Small resets beat quiet disengagement.
Protect focus blocks. Give caregivers predictable windows to finish high-value work without meetings or pings. Predictability lowers spillover.
Track the right signals. Pulse weekly on “Did home demands crowd work this week?” and “Did our coverage plan work?” Watch for teams that need extra support.
Bring partners into planning when possible. If your benefits include EAP, referral lists, or backup-care vendors, provide a one-page guide the employee can share at home.

Key takeaways

Eldercare demands raise family-to-work conflict for each partner, and conflict crosses over between them.
Higher conflict links to more time theft that week, and effects unfold over weeks.
Small flexibility, supportive supervisors, clear coverage, and predictable focus time reduce the quiet time leak.

FAQ

Why does this matter to me as an owner? Because the cost is hidden. A few unplanned breaks, early exits, or attention drifts add up across a team. Reducing conflict at the source is cheaper than policing behavior.

How would this look in my business? You might see fewer last-minute schedule changes, faster handoffs when a caregiver steps out, and steadier output week to week. The study shows these shifts are predictable, not random.

What are the first steps to applying this? Publish a one-page eldercare flex guide, set a simple coverage grid for each team, and train supervisors on two skills: load-balancing and deadline resets.

How do I measure progress? Track three things together: 1) weekly “home crowded work” pulse, 2) number of quick coverage handoffs used, 3) small errors or delays tied to schedule disruptors. You want conflict down, smooth handoffs up, and small errors down.

What if my jobs have strict on-site hours? You still have levers. Use micro-flex inside the shift, pre-approved swaps, and supervisor-led reprioritization when an eldercare week spikes.

Does this apply to small teams? Yes. With fewer people, one caregiver’s tough week hits harder. A clear two-person backup grid and predictable focus blocks make an immediate difference.

APA citation

Peng, Y., Jex, S. M., Zhang, W., Ma, J., & Matthews, R. A. (2020). Eldercare demands and time theft: Integrating family-to-work conflict and spillover–crossover perspectives. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-019-09620-3