Supporting Working Parents: Psychological and Practical Advice for Organisations

How do working parents balance job and childcare? Read about the flexibility, training and support steps organisations can put in place for them.

In the middle of the morning meeting, a phone buzzes: the school is calling, a child has a temperature. Another employee has not slept before midnight for weeks because of her daughter's LGS (Turkey's national high-school entrance exam) preparation. Another has been unable to focus on work since the day his teenage son said he wanted to leave school. These situations happen in every organisation, every day, yet they often remain invisible. A working parent cannot leave their parenthood at the door when they arrive at work. Children's health, school routines, developmental stages and problems within the family directly affect an employee's attention, energy and mood. In this article, for employers, HR managers and team leaders, I look at the difficulties working parents face, their effect on business results, and the concrete support steps organisations can take.

The Psychological Load of Being a Working Parent

Parenthood is one of life's most meaningful roles and also one of its most demanding responsibilities. This load generally falls under a few headings:

• Time pressure: Working hours, school and nursery hours, and shuttle-bus and transport arrangements are often out of step with one another. Fitting these pieces together every day takes serious planning.
• Unpredictable situations: A sick child, a school closure, a childminder who does not turn up or a sudden parents' meeting can upset even the best plan.
• Guilt: The thoughts "I can't give my child enough time" and "I'm not doing my job well enough" can be experienced at the same time.
• Concerns specific to developmental stages: Sleep routines in infancy, adjustment and academic success at school age, exam anxiety, screen use and the search for identity in adolescence; each stage brings its own worries.
• Financial pressure: The high cost of living, education costs and care expenses can push parents towards overtime or a search for extra income.

In Turkey, although extended-family support is an important resource for some parents, for employees who live in big cities, have migrated or have no family support, this resource is often absent. Single parents, parents caring for a child with a disability or chronic illness, and couples who work shifts experience this load even more intensely.

Developmental stages also create predictable waves for the workplace. September, when schools open, exam periods, report cards and summer holidays are times when working parents' planning load rises markedly. An organisation that knows this calendar can arrange shift and leave planning in advance accordingly.

The Effect of the Parenting Load on Business Results

When conflict between work and family responsibilities continues for a long time, the following consequences can be seen in the workplace:

• Distraction and presenteeism: The parent is at work but their mind is on their child. According to Deloitte's UK data, the largest item in the cost of poor mental health to employers is presenteeism (Deloitte, 2024).
• Increase in short-term absences: Hourly and daily leave taken because of a child's illness, school meetings or a disruption to care arrangements.
• Burnout: Constantly rushing between two spheres without a chance to recover increases the risk of burnout.
• Withdrawal from career and leaving the job: Parents who find no flexibility may turn down promotion, move into a role with less responsibility or leave the job.
• Occupational safety risks: A sleepless, anxious employee at a machine is a risk that needs attention, especially in production plants.

The general picture in Turkey adds to this load. According to Gallup's 2026 report, 66% of employees in Turkey say they experienced stress for much of the previous day and 36% say they felt anger (Gallup, 2026; 2025 data). Stress and anger that build up at work are carried home, and the tension at home returns to the workplace the next day. This cycle affects the wellbeing of both the employee and their family. Children often sense the tension their parents bring home from work less through words than through tone of voice, impatience and the atmosphere at home. Every step aimed at reducing the stress employees experience at work is therefore also, indirectly, an investment in the wellbeing of the next generation. When organisations see this link, parent support stops being a cost item and becomes a natural part of organisational culture.

Different Family Situations, Different Needs

When designing parent support, it is necessary to avoid the assumption of a "typical family." Two parents working on the same shift in the same factory may have very different needs:

• Single parents: With no partner to share the care load, their need for flexibility in emergencies is higher. Overtime and night shifts are, for them, often not a choice but a serious organisational problem.
• Couples who work shifts: Spouses working different shifts to provide childcare reduces the time the family spends together and can strain the relationship.
• Parents of a child with special needs or a chronic illness: They need predictable flexibility for regular therapy and doctor's appointments, school meetings and long-term care processes.
• New parents: They go through a distinctive transition period involving lack of sleep, physical recovery and adjusting to the new routine. I discuss this period in detail in the article on returning to work after maternity leave.
• Parents of teenagers: This group, thought to need support least, can carry a heavy emotional load during exam periods, school problems and adolescent crises.

This diversity calls for an approach that offers options rather than a one-size-fits-all package. A short conversation between the manager and the employee is the quickest way of understanding which arrangement will really help.

Work-Life Balance Within the Psychosocial Risk Framework

The 2024 Psychosocial Factors Information Guide of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security lists the interaction between work and life outside work and work schedules separately among the categories of psychosocial hazard (Ministry of Labour and Social Security, 2024). In other words, how working hours and work organisation intersect with family life is an official psychosocial risk heading and can be addressed in the risk assessment.

Article 5, paragraph (f) of Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 requires the employer to develop a coherent prevention policy covering the effects of factors related to work organisation, working conditions and social relations. Article 10 of the Law also provides for the situation of groups that require special policies, such as pregnant or breastfeeding employees and women employees, to be taken into account in the risk assessment.

Internationally, the ISO 45003:2021 guidance lists how work is organised as the first category of psychosocial hazards. Shift patterns, overtime practices and the predictability of working hours are part of this category. A work arrangement that takes account of the needs of parents and carers is also one that reduces psychosocial risks.

How Can Organisations Support Working Parents?

Supporting parents is not granting a privilege; it is building a working arrangement that fits people's real lives.

The recommendations below can be adapted to the size and sector of the organisation. What matters is that support is a written, fairly applied policy rather than a "favour" that varies from person to person.

Steps related to work arrangements

• Predictable shift and overtime schedules: Publish shift plans as far in advance as possible and limit last-minute changes.
• Flexible start and finish times: In suitable roles, allow flexibility that makes it possible to fit in with school and nursery hours.
• Shift swaps and cover: In production plants, set up cover arrangements that make shift swaps within the team easier and that come into play in emergencies.
• Emergency leave: Define short-term, easy-to-take leave arrangements for unpredictable situations such as a child falling ill.
• Meeting times: Place important meetings within core working hours.
• Rules for communication outside working hours: Set a clear rule on messages after working hours.

Care and logistics support

• Depending on the size of the business, consider options such as nursery support, cooperation with nearby care providers or summer activities during school holidays.
• Plan leave in advance, taking the school calendar into account.
• Provide physical arrangements such as a breastfeeding room and facilities for storing milk.

Psychological support and training

• Parent workshops: Run short psychoeducation sessions on topics such as anxiety in children, adolescence, exam stress, screen use and work-life balance. In Europe, only 42% of employees say there is information or training on wellbeing and coping with stress at work (EU-OSHA, 2022); this area is still empty in many organisations.
• Confidential counselling: Offer a confidential psychological support channel that employees and, where needed, family members can reach. In Europe, 38% of employees say they have access to counselling or support at work (EU-OSHA, 2022).
• Manager training: In the World Health Organization's guidelines on mental health at work, the recommendation with the strongest evidence is providing mental health training for managers (WHO, 2022). Noticing an employee who is struggling because of parenting, and talking with them without judgement, is one of the concrete outcomes of this training.

Career and fairness

• Make sure parents who use flexible arrangements are not excluded from promotion and development opportunities.
• In performance appraisal, focus on results produced rather than time spent at work.
• Keep support policies open not only to mothers but to fathers and all employees who provide care. A culture that accepts fathers taking on parenting responsibility as normal contributes to a more balanced sharing of the load.

Suppose that in an automotive supplier factory, shift change requests rise among some employees with children during exam season, and foremen turn these requests down for fear of being accused of favouritism. The HR unit sets a transparent shift-swap rule that applies during exam periods and announces it to all employees. In the same period, a workshop on "exam season and communicating with teenagers" is run for parents. These steps ease both the employees' stress and the decision-making burden carried by the foremen.

What Topics Can Be Covered in Parent Workshops?

The topics that attract most interest in in-house parent programmes are generally the areas in which employees struggle most in daily life:

• Pre-school years: Sleep routines, tantrums, settling in at nursery and separation anxiety.
• School age: Homework routines, peer relationships, attention problems and screen use.
• Adolescence: Setting boundaries, maintaining communication, exam anxiety and the digital world.
• The parent's own wellbeing: Coping with guilt, self-care, sharing responsibility with a partner and preventing work stress from being carried home.

These workshops are not therapy, but they give parents information, perspective and practical skills, and show how to reach individual support when needed. For detailed information on exam periods, take a look at the article on exam anxiety, and on digital habits, the one on screen addiction.

How to Get Started in Your Organisation

Needs analysis: Examine how many employees have children or care responsibilities, in which periods leave and shift requests peak, and in which departments short-term absences are rising. Through a survey with protected confidentiality, collect the issues parents struggle with most, the types of support they need and their suggestions about work arrangements.

Programme: Based on the analysis, plan together a flexible working and emergency leave policy, shift-swap rules, parent workshops, manager training and confidential individual support. It matters that the programme is a process spread across the year, not a one-off event; workshops planned around the school calendar fall at the times of greatest need. You can explore how programmes suited to your organisation can be structured on our corporate services page.

Measurement: Track short-term absence, resignations, use of flexible arrangements, workshop attendance and employee satisfaction at regular intervals. The ILO lists absenteeism, resignations, use of support services and employee surveys among its monitoring indicators (ILO, 2026).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the flexibility given to working parents create unfairness for other employees?

This perception can arise when flexibility is applied as a personal privilege. Rules that are written, transparent and open to everyone with care responsibilities protect the sense of fairness. It should also be remembered that employees may need flexibility in different life stages for reasons other than parenting.

How can a small business support working parents?

Even in small businesses, predictable shift plans, flexible leave for emergencies, rules for communication outside working hours and an understanding attitude from the manager make a big difference. Most of these steps need no extra budget; regular and consistent application is enough.

Do parent workshops replace therapy?

No. Workshops are psychoeducation sessions that aim to build knowledge and skills. Parents who observe a marked and persistent struggle in their child or in themselves should see a specialist for an individual assessment.

How should I approach an employee who is struggling because of family problems?

Without intruding on their private life, show that you care on the basis of the changes you have observed, and consider together the adjustments that can be made to their work arrangements. If the employee speaks of hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm, refer them to a mental health professional; in an emergency, 112 (emergency services) should be called. If the organisation has a confidential support service, it helps to remind them how to reach it.

• #working parents
• #work-life balance
• #flexible working
• #human resources

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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