Most of us have a personal and a work life. A business owner has three lives; personal, work and numbers. The numbers life is driven by the effects of cost, productivity and profit in a business. 75% of the cost of every business is associated with human resources from the ergonomically smart office chair to retirement plans.
There is a silent and sometimes hidden cost and it is that of the employee’s family caregiving. It affects productivity, turn over, retention and health insurance cost for the business. According to the University of Pittsburgh eldercare in the workplace study, 20% of caregiving employees will quit their jobs to provide care full time care for a family member or loved one. Half of all caregivers for persons aged 50 and over are employed full time and almost 75% of them have had to change jobs or stop working because of the demands of family caregiving.
These trends result in the demand for employee elder care assistance programs. Employees who are family caregivers need practical help and long-term care planning to remain well, safe, productive and engaged. Employers suffer increased group health insurance cost because family caregiver employees are sometimes sicker than the loved ones they are caring for because of the stress of caregiving. An employee elder care assistance program is very simple to start and there are many zero cost options for small businesses through grants and strategic partnership.
The CAREGIVER RELIEF NETWORK extends grants for the development of workplace elder care assistance programs
The caregiver relief network has a new grant program that helps small businesses to set up employee elder care assistance programs. The grant covers the assessment, design and servicing of the program. It is a zero-cost way to offer a great benefit to caregiving employees and to lower cost for the employer. The program has 4 goals;
#1. To educate the employee about the importance of LONG-TERM CARE PLANNING. Planning saves time, saves money and reduces stress.
#2. To design a backup caregiving system to help the employee when there is a sudden need for care. This reduces absenteeism and improves productivity.
#3.To help the employee to develop an individualized self-care, personal health, wellness and work life balance program. This will reduce health insurance cost for the employer.
#4. To help the employer lower the cost of employee turnover, retention, absenteeism, and health insurance utilization.
This program is a worksite and online program so employees do not have to travel or lose time from work. The application process is quick and simple by calling 833-603-0022 or emailing Stella@stellansong.com.
