As companies look for new ways to make life easier for their employees, the competition is on for who can offer the best benefits to help employees take care of their loved ones.
But while there are countless lists of companies that have great benefits for employees caring for children and other dependents, including the four-legged kind, not every company considers the other side of the care equation: aging relatives.
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While not everyone has kids at home, most do have parents — and those parents are getting older. One in 6 working adults care for an aging relative, and the elderly population is expected to double over the next few decades.
Wearing both caregiver and employee hats comes at a cost: according to MetLife, people with elder-care responsibilities can cost their employers as much as $34 billion a year overall, thanks to absenteeism, disengagement, turnover, and increased healthcare costs for themselves.
But it doesn't have to be that hard or costly — a fact that many companies are starting to understand and counter. Here are four companies that go above and beyond to give their workers a helping hand with senior care.
Also known for their dependable childcare benefits, Prudential saw its employees increase their use of Prudential's adult care benefits threefold between 2009 and 2014.
Those benefits include 200 hours of free backup dependent care — for children or adults — per employee, and matches 25 percent of pre-tax funds up to $4,000 that an employee puts in a dependent care reimbursement account.
Employees can also take advantage of geriatric care services such as in-home assessments from social workers and services connecting users to specialists who can offer second opinions and follow-up medical advice.
An early adopter of comprehensive senior care programs, Johns Hopkins offers a variety of services to its 40,000 employees, focused on three distinct phases: healthy aging, chronic illness, and crisis.
In order to help employees plan ahead, Johns Hopkins offers individual consultations with a qualified counselor; workshops on topics such as legal issues and dementia; resources for long-distance caregivers; and up to 10 days a year of subsidized backup care.
Northwestern offers work/life and family resources for its thousands of employees, ranging from childcare support and flexible work arrangements to a full eldercare program.
Employees can take advantage of 24/7 access to professional counselors through employee assistance programs, as well as workshops and other resources to help employees balance their responsibilities both at home and at work.
J&J offers its caregiving program to employees free of charge in order to encourage participation. Services include situational assessments and scheduled check-ins from a geriatric care manager, on-site facility reviews, assistance with paperwork and planning, referrals to community resources, webinars and workshops, and flexible care leave policies, in addition to sick leave.
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