Gendered Impacts: Elder Care and Organisational Responses

This Paper critically examines organisational implementation of employee elder care policies by applying both feminist theory of the gendered organisation (Acker 1992), and institutional theory, focussing on policy-practice decoupling (Bromley and Powell 2010). Two main statutory rights exist in Australia: 10 days sick leave also available for carers’ leave and the right to request flexible working arrangements for employees with elder care responsibilities. These policies are paralleled in the policies of the organisations examined. This research is the first to examine the implementation of Australian employer elder care policies. In Australia, approximately 19% of workers have such responsibilities (Skinner and Pocock, 2014). The paper draws on detailed case study research on elder care and work in four Australian organisations. Thirty employees and three line managers were interviewed. Five key informant interviews provided contextual information as did a wide range of organisational documents. Applying feminist theory with institutional theory allows us to see the complexity in implementation outcomes. The paper highlights the implicitly gendered responses within these organisations, where eldercarer and flexibility policies are implemented by line managers who are also meant to ensure employee performance targets are met. The findings suggest implementation falls well short of policy ideals. They point to the absence of employer analysis of care impacts on performance goals; the lack of explicit mechanisms to adjust performance targets to allow for care demands; that older women employees who are eldercarers face work difficulties similar to those experienced by younger women childcarers; and that older men who transgress gender norms by undertaking care also pay a penalty. In addition, the study explores how decoupling is influenced and experienced by line managers and employees (Dick, 2105). In conclusion, the paper considers organisational policy responses to overcome the above issues.