As the US population ages, more employees are seeking caregiver benefits at work

DEBRA WHITMAN WAS TRAVELING for work when her father was suddenly admitted to the hospital in serious pain.

She jetted home to Maryland and took several days off to care for him in his rural community in eastern Washington state and to set him up with a motorized lift chair that would help him stand up.

Fortunately for Whitman, who serves as chief public policy officer at AARP, her employer offers paid time off for caregiving for elderly family members, a benefit which experts say is growing in popularity as the U.S. population ages.

“Instead of having to take all my vacation, I could take several days of caregiving leave while I was out there,” Whitman said. “That’s been a huge godsend for a lot of my staff.”

More than 63 million Americans provide care for an adult family member, and most of them have regular paid jobs as well, according to AARP, formerly known as American Association of Retired Persons. But caretaking responsibilities can make holding down a full-time job challenging, especially for people caring for older adults and raising children at the same time.

The average caregiver spends about six hours a day caring for aging loved ones, according to Meghan Shea, vice president at New York Life Group Benefit Solutions, which provides life insurance and helps administer leaves of absence for employers.

“The challenge is that leave isn’t unlimited,” Shea said. “The average caregiving role spans about six years. So really, it’s a life change for these employees, and they need to figure out how to balance responsibilities in a new way, and that’s very stressful.”

In the U.S., the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for immediate family members. The law requires federal, state and local agencies, and private employers with 50 or more workers, to maintain health benefits and job protections for those taking leave, according to the Department of Labor.

In addition to the law not applying to all workplaces, it does not account for people who can’t afford to take unpaid leave.

More than a dozen states mandate some form of paid leave for caregiving, whether for a newborn child or a family member with a serious illness. The state laws generally entitle workers to a portion of their normal paychecks, although for how long and other benefit details vary.

“Many people have to quit their jobs in order to care for somebody, and that not only affects their income but their retirement benefits, and then there’s a loss of productivity for the employer who may have lost a great person,” Whitman said. “Finding ways to support family caregivers is a huge employment issue right now.”

To meet growing demand, some companies and organizations have started offering a variety of caregiving benefits, including flexible scheduling and help finding resources. Here are some ways to determine if a workplace is supportive of caregivers.

Questions to ask

Shea recommends asking the following questions during job interviews, if paid leave and other caregiving benefits are important to you.

How much caregiving leave am I entitled to?

Do I have to take it all at one time?

Can I take it in multiple increments?

Is it paid? Is it unpaid?

What leave benefits am I entitled to at a federal and a state level?

What do you offer employees in addition to that?

Caregiving leave

For any caretaker, time is a valuable — yet scarce — asset. Employers that provide paid leave for caregiving typically offer two to six weeks, and some provide as much as 12 weeks, said Meghan Pistritto, a vice president in Prudential Financial’s group insurance division.

“Caregiving is a reality for a significant portion of the workforce,” Pistritto said. “The positive news is that employers are stepping up and they’re supporting their teams here. We’re seeing a lot of growth both in the employer-provided as well as in state-mandated paid leave programs that are showing up across the U.S.”

AARP gives eligible employees up to two weeks of paid time off per calendar year to care for family members or domestic partners with serious health conditions or who are at least 50 years old and need help with activities such as meal preparation, appointments and managing finances.

More than time off

Flexible scheduling and the ability to work remotely can be very helpful, especially when those benefits are actively promoted and normalized, Pistritto said. Managers can openly encourage conversations about caregiving needs and proactively check on employee well-being, making it safe for people to share their situations without fear of stigma, she added.

“Comprehensive paid leave is just the starting point. Genuine caregiver-friendly employers also provide practical resources such as access to counseling, backup care services, and caregiver support groups,” Pistritto said.

Some employers offer access to “care concierges” who specialize in helping employees find health care providers, understand state and federally mandated benefits, and to navigate complex systems such as Medicare.

Whitman tapped such a benefit offered by AARP to obtain a list of caregivers in her father’s area who could help him at home in her absence. “Just having that list was a really important step,” she said. The concierge can also help workers figure out where to find durable medical equipment or do home modifications, Whitman added.

Turning to technology

If time off work isn’t feasible, a growing number of electronic devices are available to help caregivers keep an eye on loved ones while managing their paid jobs.

Susan Hammond lives across the street from her mother, who has dementia, in rural Vermont. Hammond spends four to five hours a day helping her mother prepare meals, take medication and shower, while also running War Legacies Project, a nonprofit organization that works to address environmental and health consequences from wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

For the hours when she is working or sleeping, Hammond set up cameras and motion detectors in her mother’s house that alert her on her watch or phone if the front door opens. Her mother sometimes meanders outside, believing she’s in the wrong house.

“The concern really is wandering. And she has said to me, ‘Why am I here? I’ve got to go home.’ At times from the camera, I can see she’s trying to get out and leave the house,” Hammond said.

Her job requires traveling within the U.S. and Asia, and when she’s away, she monitors her mother from afar while her siblings help with daily caregiving. Her mother once had a health issue while Hammond was away. When emergency medical technicians arrived to help, the monitoring software allowed Hammond to talk with her mother, to provide reassurance, and the medical staff, to answer questions.

“I can always know where she is just by looking at my watch,” Hammond said. “Because we can monitor the cameras and monitor the alarms, I know she’s safe.”

Reporting by Cathy Bussewitz, Associated Press. AP Business Writer Dee-Anne Durbin contributed to this report.