Survey: Employers lack caregiver support
Survey: Employers lack caregiver support
A new survey of employers shows that American workplaces are only beginning to offer in-depth programs supporting the widespread needs of caregivers, the critically ill, and the bereaved.
The employer survey conducted by Last Acts, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded organization, questioned employee benefits managers at 170 companies about workplace programs such as bereavement leave, flexible work schedules, and information and referral services.
The study was commissioned by the Workplace Task Force of Last Acts, a coalition of more than 370 organizations dedicated to improving end-of-life care. Task Force members included the Employee Assistance Professionals Association, Business and Professional Women/USA, the National Health Council, and the National Alliance for Caregiving.
The Department of Labor expects rapid growth in family caregiving among workers over the next 10 years, Last Act officials predict. With that in mind, the Task Force hopes to create a set of model workplace activities to address employee needs. Of those surveyed, about two-thirds of employers expressed interest in employee education to prepare managers to create supportive corporate cultures for employees who may be terminally ill or caring for someone with a critical illness.
However, such programs are only beginning to emerge, according to Myrl Weinberg, leader of the Workplace Task Force and president of the National Health Council. More employers need to understand the demographic and business reasons why these programs are needed, she said in Last Act press release.
"Just as child care has become central in the workplace, the demands of assisting the elderly and the critically ill — sometimes across long distances — are becoming more pervasive. Our goal is to make workplaces flexible enough to give working people the time and information they need to take good care of themselves and their loved ones while continuing to be productive and valuable employees."
Caregivers face obstacles
The research found that basic benefits are common. Bereavement leave was offered by 88% of the employers. Family and medical leave or employee assistance program each were offered by 60% of employers.
Yet other kinds of programs were more scarce. For instance, temporary reassignments during a time of grief or family medical hardship were found to be available among only one-third of the employers. Only 15% offered a legal services program to deal with matters such as health care power of attorney, advance directives, or wills and estates.
In response to the absence of needed workplace programs, Last Acts has developed a set of model activities for employers to implement. These activities include educating employees about end-of-life decision making and resources, instituting employee leave benefits, and training managers — often the first people to hear about employees’ concerns — to be sensitive, confidential and capable in referring employees to benefits and sources of help.
The report showed that employers in the study raised concerns about implementing such activities because of the costs of developing materials, adding new benefits and training managers, and that managers often lack the expertise to develop and implement those activities. Benefits managers said they would be more receptive to adding these programs if they were low-cost, if they could learn from models used by others, and if they had help developing or carrying out the new policies.
"Employers must first be sure they explain clearly to their employees all relevant existing benefits such as sick leave policies and insurance coverage for hospice care. But there are effective ways to go beyond that without requiring large sums of money," she said.
Other options include:
• Providing educational materials on living wills, hospice care, and other services.
• Offering employees a list of national and local services such as health care financing information, legal questions, and grief support.
Additional Workplace Task Force recommendations include offering informational materials in employee orientations, instituting flexible work schedules or leave pooling, offering seminars for employees or advancing money to employees to pay insurance premiums while the employees are out on leave.
Who’s responsible?
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 30% of the work force has some responsibility for an elderly relative and that 54% of Americans say they likely will be responsible for the care of an elderly parent or relative in the next 10 years.
Women have traditionally taken care of elderly or sick family members, and research shows that many caregiving responsibilities still fall on women, even though many of them work outside the home.
These are important statistics to employers who face the potential of losing employees and reduced productivity. Employees experiencing work-family conflict are three times as likely to think about quitting their jobs as those who do not, according to University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center reports.
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