HR Professionals See More Employees
Struggle with Elder Care
Nearly a Quarter of Large Organizations See Turnover
(Alexandria, Va., December 9, 2003)—Research indicates that more people are
caring for aging relatives, and that this often affects employee productivity.
Human resource (HR) professionals say employee expectations regarding elder care
benefits have increased, and, as a result, most organizations expect costs for
these benefits to increase in the next five years.
Elder care has been called the “silent productivity killer.” Often, employers
are unaware that employees are dealing with elder care issues. An AARP/National
Alliance for Caregiving study from as early as 1997 estimated that one in four
American households struggled to provide care for an elderly individual.
Another, from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, estimated productivity losses
due to elder care issues ranging from 11 to 29 billion dollars per year. The
SHRM 2003 Elder Care Survey reflects similar findings as 47 percent of HR
professionals report seeing an increase in the number of employees dealing with
elder care issues over the last several years. Despite the increase, only 25
percent of organizations offer elder care benefits.
The problem continues to grow as the baby boom generation gets older and more
pressure is placed on the “sandwich generation” to provide care for their
children, in addition to an aging relative. HR professionals expect the number
of employees caring for an aging relative to increase in the next five to 10
years. These rising figures stress the importance of the role of HR
professionals in understanding employees’ challenges and developing strategies
to improve job satisfaction and productivity, while also looking to improve the
organization’s bottom line.
“The increasing need for elder care is an inevitability,” said SHRM President
and CEO Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR. “Employers have an opportunity to either
anticipate and manage it in a way that benefits both the employer and employees,
or let it smack them in the face a few years from now, dragging down
productivity and increasing turnover as a result. Organizations simply can’t
afford to ignore the cost of this reality.”
Productivity
HR professionals estimate that nearly 15 percent of employees in their
organization deal with elder care issues. But, a significant percentage of
respondents witnessed employees who missed a full day from work (59 percent),
encountered workday interruptions (44 percent) or stress-related health problems
(29 percent). Sixteen percent of all respondents said they had experienced
turnover or attrition due to elder care issues.
The impact elder care has on employees is even more profound depending on the
size of the organization. HR professionals from large organizations (500+
employees) are much more likely to report workday interruptions, strained
employee/manager relationships and missed appointments and meetings than HR
professionals from small (1-99 employees) and medium-sized (100-499 employees)
organizations. Twenty-three percent of respondents from large organizations and
21 percent from medium-sized organizations report seeing turnover due to
employees challenged with elder care issues. Only four percent of small
organizations said the same.
Employer Response
While SHRM research indicates a quarter of organizations offer some kind of
elder care benefit, nearly one-third of HR professionals agreed or strongly
agreed that employers have an obligation to provide resources and assistance for
employees facing elder care issues. The biggest challenge, however, is cost.
Nearly 40 percent said elder care benefits are too costly for their
organization, and one-third said there would not be enough employees utilizing
elder care benefits to justify changing current benefits packages.
The most common benefit employers offer is unpaid leave under the Family and
Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for elder care reasons (88 percent), but FMLA leave
does not apply to organizations with fewer than 50 employees. Most organizations
(76 percent), regardless of size, provide unpaid leave for elder care issues,
but the length of leave varies by organization. Benefits providing financial
support for elder care come most often in the form of dependent care flexible
spending accounts, which are offered by 64 percent of organizations. Most HR
professionals indicated the benefits could be used for employee’s parents and
the parents of their legal spouse. The majority of respondents said their
organization makes exceptions to formal policies to provide more flexibility to
employees facing elder care issues.
Fifty-eight percent of HR professionals agreed or strongly agreed that it was
necessary to increase the contribution amount permitted under dependent care
flexible spending accounts to help employees financially deal with elder care
issues. Nearly the same percentage agreed or strongly agreed that individual tax
incentives for the purchase of long-term care insurance covering older relatives
would help defray the costs of employer-provided long-term care assistance.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the
world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. Founded in
1948, SHRM currently has more than 500 affiliated chapters within the United
States and members in more than 100 countries. Visit SHRM Online at
www.shrm.org.
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