Why caregivers need workplace support
Debra Whitman, chief public policy officer at AARP, 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.
Whitman had a safety net many workers lack: her employer offers paid time off for caregiving for elderly family members.
“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.”
The scope of the challenge
More than 63 million Americans provide care for an adult family member, according to AARP, and most of them have regular paid jobs. But caregiving 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. The average caregiving role spans about six years.
“The challenge is that leave isn’t unlimited,” Shea said. “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.”
Federal protections fall short
Federal law provides a baseline of support, but with significant gaps. The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for immediate family members and 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.
But the law does not apply to all workplaces, and it does not account for workers who cannot afford to take unpaid leave.
“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.”
State mandates and employer initiatives
More than a dozen states mandate some form of paid leave for caregiving. The state laws generally entitle workers to a portion of their normal paychecks, though for how long and other benefit details vary.
To meet growing demand, employers are increasingly offering caregiving benefits. Those providing paid leave typically offer two to six weeks, with some extending to 12 weeks, according to 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 show up across the U.S.”
AARP offers 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.
Beyond time off
Flexible scheduling and remote work can be especially helpful when 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.
“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 navigate complex systems such as Medicare. Whitman used such a service 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.
Remote monitoring as a tool
For workers whose caregiving responsibilities occur from a distance, technology offers one option. 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 is in the wrong house.
Her job requires traveling within the U.S. and Asia. When she is away, she monitors her mother from afar while her siblings help with daily caregiving. When her mother once had a health issue while Hammond was away, the monitoring software allowed Hammond to talk with her mother to provide reassurance and to answer questions for medical staff.
“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.”
Questions to ask employers
For workers evaluating employers, Shea recommends asking these questions during job interviews if paid leave and 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 federal and state levels?
- What do you offer employees in addition to that?