Family friendly benefits are topping the charts for this year’s best employee benefits in 2023-–and that should come as no surprise. An astounding 73% of employees have caregiving responsibilities–and in a recent Care survey, 70% of employees said they are more likely to stay at a company where they receive family care benefits.
Employers who invest in family care benefits are realizing a huge return on their investment from increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and improved recruitment and retention. So what family friendly benefits should your organization invest in to stay competitive? Here’s a quick list of the top 10 family friendly benefits for working parents and caregivers in 2023:
- Flexible and remote work arrangements
- Paid Parental Leave
- Child Care Benefits
- Lactation Support
- Educational Support
- Elder Care Benefits
- Backup Care
- Pet Care Benefits
- Wellness & Mental Health Benefits
- Employee Discounts
Learn how these top family-friendly benefits can support your employees–and improve your bottomline.
- Flexible and remote work arrangements: Just when working parents finally adjusted to working from home, now many are facing a new challenge–the return to the office. This is creating stress and uncertainty for many employees who aren’t willing to go back to old routines. In a recent survey conducted by Care, half of employees say they want a hybrid work arrangement, nearly 20% prefer fully remote work, and nearly three-quarters expect the flexibility to work from home at least some of the time. This report further highlights the importance of flexible work, according to employee caregivers and benefits decision makers.
- Paid Leave: While The Family and Medical Leave Act provides employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year, companies who offer paid leave will attract and keep more working parents. Paid parental leave policies help parents adjust to the transition, while also helping them maintain financial stability. Many companies also offer paid leave for employees who need time off to care for a parent, spouse or aging loved one. Learn how to implement or improve your paid leave policy with these quick tips.
- Lactation Support: Returning to work after having a baby is hard enough, but it can be particularly challenging for employees who are breastfeeding. The 2010 Affordable Care Act lessened this burden by requiring companies to provide a private space for employees to pump milk at work, but that’s not always enough. Employers who go above and beyond by providing additional workplace benefits will retain more working parents. These benefits can include guidance from lactation consultants, access to breastfeeding pumps, and milk shipping programs that make it easier for parents to return to work while continuing to breastfeed.. These leading experts share additional insights on how your organization can create an inclusive workplace for breastfeeding mothers.
- Child Care Assistance: Child care continues to be a critical need for working parents. In the past few years, nearly 20% of working parents had to leave work or reduce their work hours solely due to a lack of child care. And filling these positions typically amounts to 20% of an hourly employee’s salary and up to 150% of a manager’s salary. Conversely, when companies provide child care benefits, it’s estimated that job turnover can decline by 60%. Child care benefits can include: a marketplace to help employees find background-checked child caregivers, 1:1 support from child care experts, discounts on child care tuition, and subsidized backup care programs to help employees fill gaps in child care routines. In Care’s Future of Benefits report, 46% of employers say they are prioritizing child care more in 2023.
- Educational Support: Providing support to help parents manage children’s schooling and homework became an important employee perk during the pandemic – and it continues to be a top trend today as many employees work remote or hybrid schedules. Benefits such as On-Demand Tutoring that connect students with tutors, and College Care Advisor that help students navigate the college admission process, are just some examples of family friendly benefits that promote academic success and save working parents time, stress and money.
- Elder Care Benefits: No family care benefits package is complete without elder care support. More than one in six working Americans is a caregiver to the elderly, and 70% of these caregivers suffer work-related difficulties. In fact, employers lose $17-33 billion due to absenteeism and turnover of senior caregivers. Given these startling statistics, it’s no wonder that senior care is a top priority for employers in 2023. In a recent Care survey, when asked which family care benefit they would offer to employees if they could provide only one, respondents chose senior care benefits over others by a considerable margin.
- Backup Care: Even the best care plans routines break down at times, causing working parents and caregivers scrambling to find last minute care. Backup Care is a quality, vetted, subsidized solution to help employees cover those times when their regular, ongoing care is unavailable – which means fewer missed work days and increased productivity for employers. Companies like Best Buy and Sharp HealthCare have averted thousands of absenteeism per year with Backup Care. Learn how Backup Care can help your organization improve productivity and reduce unwanted absenteeism.
- Pet Care: 70% of U.S. households have a pet as a part of their family–so the best family friendly benefits now also include care for pets. Similar to helping employees find child or elder care, pet care benefits help employees find ongoing care and backup care for their pets. Other popular pet benefits include: pet insurance, bring-your-dog-to work, and pet discounts.
- Wellness and Mental health: Employers who offer generous health insurance plans that provide coverage for their entire family attract and retain top employers. But equally important today is providing mental health benefits to help employees manage stress, anxiety, depression, family relationships, grief and more. Companies who include mental health benefits–such as access to licensed counselors or health apps–will also benefit from a healthier and more productive workforce.
- Employee Discounts: Life is expensive and in today’s economy families need help making ends meet. Employee discount programs that help employees save money on child care, senior care, pet care–and even everyday essentials such as groceries and retail–are a popular employee perk. Last year, LifeMart, an employee discount center, saved employees over $10+ million dollars on child care tuition alone–amounting to an annual savings of approximately $1,698 per family.
Are you doing everything you can to support working parents and caregivers in your organization? These additional resources can help you evaluate and implement top family care benefits in your organization.
- Designing an employee benefits program for working parents
- Child Care Benefits Employees Need Now
- Important employee benefits according to employers…and employees
- Best Employee Benefits of 2023
- The Ultimate Guide to Evaluating Family Care Benefits
Contact a Care representative to learn more.
