Worklife and family programs on the rise.

The number of employers with programs and policies that help their employees balance work and family responsibilities has grown substantially during the past five years and is expected to continue increasing, according to a survey of 1,050 major U.S. employers.

The two most prevalent programs reported are child care assistance and employee assistance programs (see exhibit 1, below). Employee assistance programs offer workers with pressing personal problems an opportunity to get the counseling that might help them cope. Generally, the employer contracts with an outside agency to provide the service.

Another type of program gaining in popularity provides help in caring for older family members. The percentage of employers offering elder care programs has more than doubled since 1990, the survey showed.

This increase in the number of programs shows the changing attitude of employers, according to Carol Sladek, work-life specialist with Hewitt Associates, of Lincolnshire, Illinois, which carried out the survey. "Employers have realized that it makes good business sense to offer these kinds of programs, which help balance employees' work and home lives," she said. "There is a bottom-line advantage to the employer." CPA firms offer programs About two years ago, according to JoAnn B. Wittenbach, human resources director at Crowe Chizek & Co., South Bend, Indiana, her firm began looking into "the kinds of programs that would help us help our employees." The firm has approximately 960 employees overall.

"One of our most popular is free on-site baby-sitting services on Saturdays during tax season at some of our larger offices." she said. "We also have many kinds of flexible work arrangements. Some of our staff work at home, which is becoming more and more popular, and we also have compressed work weeks and reduced work hours.

"Among the advantages of offering programs that support our staff's need to balance family and worklife are that they are very productive and satisfied employees" Wittenbach said.

Sladek expects child care and employee assistance programs to remain popular in the future and the number of employers offering flexible work arrangements, now two-thirds of the respondents, to grow.

(Note that the Family and Medical Leave Act became effective in 1993, requiring employers with 50 or more employees to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or for the serious illness of the employee, a child, spouse or parent. Therefore, such leaves were not included in the exhibits.)

Exhibit 1: Worklife and Family Benefits Most Commonly Offered by Employers(*)

  Percentage of
                                    respondents offering

Benefit                            1990(*)      1995(**)
Child care                           64%          85%
Employee assistance programs         73%          84%
Flexible scheduling                  54%          67%
Elder care                           12%          26%
Adoption                             12%          23%

(*) 1990 (837 employers) (**)1995 (1,050 employers)

Exhibit 2: Child Care Programs Offered

  Of the 1,050 employers surveyed in the latest survey, 896 provided some
type of child
care benefit in 1995.

                                        1995 percentage of
Benefit                                respondents offering

Dependent care spending accounts              96%
Resource and referral services                40%
Sick or emergency child care program          13%
Child care centers                            10%
Employer-arranged discounts with
  local child care providers                   5%
Before- and after-school care (either
  on-site or community)                        4%
School holiday program                         2%
Voucher program                                2%
Financial support of outside child
  care facilities                              2%
Other (direct subsidies, reimbursement
  for overnight-overtime)                      4%

(*) Total percentages exceed 100% because some employers offer multiple programs.

Source: Hewitt Associates