As American workers continue to face the challenges of everyday financial stress and caregiving responsibilities are on the rise across all generations, a new study shared by Prudential Financial, Inc. found that paid time away from work to care for a loved one is now one of the most valued workplace benefits.
The study reveals key insights into why employees take time off, the barriers they face and employers’ top concerns for offering paid leave. The results show that employers who do not evolve their benefits packages to offer employer-paid caregiving benefits may risk losing top talent.
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“Caregiving isn’t a niche issue – it’s a workplace reality,” said Michael Estep, president, Prudential Group Insurance. “Employees across every demographic are asking for paid leave, and employers who don’t respond risk losing talent. Embracing paid leave as an essential benefit that supports the well-being of caregivers in the workforce can be a powerful strategy to attract and train talented workers, while also supporting them in ways that can boost satisfaction, loyalty and performance.”
The study found that while paid time off to care for a loved one is the top desired caregiving benefit across all employee demographics surveyed, only about half of employers currently offer this benefit.
While 63% of companies say they offer employer-paid leave programs, one-third of employees still report they needed to take an official family or medical leave of at least four days but chose not to do so. The greatest barriers to taking leave for surveyed employees included affordability (37%), fear that their employer would think poorly of them for taking time (33%), worries it may affect their career advancement (26%) and not wanting to leave coworkers with the workload (26%).
From an employer perspective, despite the fact that nearly 70% of employers recognize the positive impacts offering paid leave has on their business, they still have hesitations. Employers cited hesitations to paid leave programs including a fear of policy abuse (42%) and the belief that employee needs are met by unpaid leave (36%) or short-term disability coverage (30%).
Beyond offering paid leave programs, the study emphasizes the importance of reducing the stigma around using those same benefits.
“Beyond offering paid leave benefits, employers can foster a broader understanding of how to use the benefits and reduce any stigma around utilizing them through consistent, clear and supportive communications,” said Mark Devine, head of Life, Absence & Disability Products in Prudential Group Insurance.
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