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More Employers Offer Elder Care ServicesBackup services for taking care of aging family members can boost morale and increase productivity.By Martha Lynn Craver - May 4, 2007
Elder care is taking a bigger toll on the bottom line. U.S. businesses lose about $33 billion a year in lost productivity from workers who arrive late, take time off unexpectedly or simply use time on the job to manage care for family members, according to a 2006 study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Nearly 60% of those caring for an elderly or disabled family member are in the workforce, and that number is certain to grow as the average lifespan increases and more workers are caught in the sandwich generation, needing to care for both children and parents.
Offering subsidized services to workers can help a lot, by keeping employees on the job and focused on work. Rising demand will spur more employers to provide the services. It's part of a growing trend among employers to offer benefits to help employees with their personal lives as a key recruiting and retention tool.
Consider hiring an outside service, such as Ceridian LifeWorks or Work Options Group, that contract with nationwide private caregiver networks. These prescreened outfits are accessible around the clock by phone or via the Internet. They provide temporary care when there's a breakdown in home care arrangements, either locally or from a distance. Most employers heavily subsidize these services. For example, at Fulbright & Jaworsky, a national law firm, employees pay $4 an hour for in-home care. The unsubsidized rate is $13 to $15 an hour. Microsoft and Unilever Foods are also Work Options clients.
Small firms, as well as big, can benefit. Instead of paying fees based on the number of employees, they sign up for a set number of hours, then dole out emergency services to workers as needed. "This is more of a pay as you go approach and gives employers more control over usage," says Cindy Carrillo, president and founder of Work Options Group.
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