Juliana, currently works as a Human Resources Manager in a multinational company and the conciliation of her formal job with taking care of her 3-year-old son, of whom she is a single mother, has taken her to exhaustion - since Juliana has no one to share this second responsibility with. Even so, she manages to honor her commitments, both with her son and at work, with quality and good humor, even being considered for a promotion.
However, Juliana has been facing an impasse: her son has just been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Without finding specialized care services to assist her during business hours - that are within her budget - Juliana has been considering quitting her job for a period of time. Even though her salary guarantees food, rent, health, clothing, and other expenses for her and her child, she does not feel comfortable entrusting her child to the care of someone who does not have the technical skills to deal with the specificity of her child.
Finding no other solution, Juliana decided to talk to her leadership and explain that she might need to quit her job to take care of her son. She explained that, despite the importance and necessity of the job, at this moment the care of the child is her priority.
Luckily the solution came soon after, her leadership, which was already considering a promotion for Juliana, advanced the proposal for a salary increase - which would be great because it would help pay for the care of her son. And promised to raise the discussion about offering a day care center in one of the floors of the headquarters building for the children of the organization's employees.
Juliana's short story had an ending that solves and prioritizes the inclusion of fathers and mothers in the labor market, showing an organization that has as its cultural premise the balance between professional and social life, that is, taking responsibility for its employees in a holistic way. However, for many people situations like this are not easily solved, leading them to quit their jobs or to look for extra income to pay for the care expenses. As a consequence, the physical and mental exhaustion generated by the sum of all these concerns and new responsibilities compromises productivity, engagement, and of course, the mental health of employees, impacting on indicators of inclusion, psychological security, and sense of belonging.
Companies with policies that include employees considering their professional and social realities are also called companies with family-friendly policies, which are essential when we talk about psychological safety for fathers, mothers and caregivers in the workplace. In this article we will present the current concept of family, the benefits of promoting a family-friendly culture for business, employees and society, and the main affirmative actions that organizations can take to promote more inclusive and family-friendly policies.