12 ways to help employers provide support for any employee’s stage of life

This is the time of year when gift-giving usually takes the form of material offerings and, for the lucky few, year-end bonuses. But, considering the continued uncertainty of today’s economy and the anticipated increases in cost for health insurance and all types of caregiving programs, brokers are in a good position to help employers rethink the usual coffee mug or pen as a “gift” this year. Employers can instead give their workforce something that could really help them: lifestyle benefits that extend beyond the employee to help them provide care and support to their loved ones.

Your clients know employees are more engaged, more productive, and less likely to call in sick when they have peace of mind about their loved ones, whether that means people or pets. Brokers can help employers level up their employee benefits strategy by adding many types of care to their Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) program. This way, employers can cost-effectively provide strategic benefits that are more inclusive of their people’s needs, regardless of how different those needs are from one employee to the next or what stage of life any employee is in. Here are two key reasons why adding care benefits to an existing LSA program can achieve those outcomes:

• Adding care benefits to an LSA program fills the gaps in traditional benefits plans to meet every employee where they are. Child or dependent care, elder care, and pet care all fall within the embrace of care benefits. No matter who your clients’ employees dedicate their love to, LSAs can offer support and assistance.
• In our modern workplaces, five generations of employees require more holistic and inclusive coverage to meet increasingly diverse care needs. LSAs allow employees to choose benefits based on their unique needs and life moments.

What to fund, subsidize, and discount Whether to offer discounts, subsidize, or outright fund employee care benefits depends on an employer’s LSA budget and desired outcomes. A good rule of thumb is to encourage them to:

• Fund benefits that will have the most immediate or acute impact on overall employee health and wellbeing.
• Subsidize nice-to-have benefits.
• Offer discounts with partners wherever possible. This way, rather than having too many vendors to manage, employers can streamline their care offerings with a unique and customizable curated list of providers. 

As they define their LSA program’s care benefits, employers should consider tailoring their program to employees’ unique needs in one of three ways:

• Pay a percentage of their employees’ total care costs
• Set a fixed amount to contribute to caregiving for each employee
• Create a sliding scale program, where employees with lower wages get more benefits than those with a higher salary

Employers can set a maximum fund limit in each model to suit your budget and program goals. 

Here are 12 ways employers can use an LSA to greatly expand the types of care employees can offer to their loved ones. 

1. Provide a network of support for caregivers: Offer counseling and support for employees facing challenges such as shifting relationships, navigating life transitions, and addressing behavioral needs. Community-focused Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and support from colleagues who have navigated elder care responsibilities can create a support network for caregivers.
2. Connect employees with daily care programs. Care for loved ones during the work day is top of mind for any employee who has caregiving responsibilities. Not only would employees appreciate funds to help care for parents, children, and pets during the workday, but being connected with a trusted network to find adult daytime care, childcare, or doggie daycare would be a plus.
3. Support in-home caregiving. Some people and pets prefer to be at home. Caregiver assistance benefits include subsidies for in-home care costs, whether nursing care, a nanny, or a dog sitter. Employers should consider directly contributing to employees’ caregiver assistance accounts to help cover in-home care expenses.
4. Subsidize accessible transportation. Transportation subsidies for loved ones of employees who cannot drive or have disabilities or mobility challenges can support independence and make medical appointments and social outings more accessible.
5. Prioritize healthy food. Offering funds for meal deliveries, a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership, or meal kits promotes total wellbeing and makes it easier for caregivers to provide nutritious meals for themselves and those they care for.
6. Embrace respite care. Respite care gives caregivers much-needed relief from their caregiving responsibilities. Providing this support and destigmatizing the need for respite can help caregivers manage their work-life balance and reduce burnout.
7. Plan for last-minute care. It happens: A child’s daycare is closed for the week, or a professional caregiver is temporarily unavailable, or a dog walker cancels their availability. When you offer a safety net and funding to address any kind of last-minute caregiving need reduces employee stress and absenteeism.
8. Empower school choice and educational support. Many families would make different choices for a child’s educational needs if they had additional financial means, including homeschooling. Just as work-from-home has become routine, so has school-from-home. Offering your employees reimbursable resources such as tuition support, textbooks, tutoring, or teaching supplies empowers them to choose the best learning environment for each child’s unique needs.
9. Supplement activities and lessons. The school day is famously out of alignment with the typical business day. As a result, children often fail to get all of their educational, physical, and social-emotional needs met by in-school activities. Funding for extracurricular activities, clubs, lessons, and summer camp can fill the timing gaps between school and work days. It can also supplement holistic learning and meaningful connections for children, giving their parents peace of mind.
10. Support family expansion (fertility and adoption). Employers can support their employees by offering financial assistance and time off to help them expand their families however they see fit. Possibilities include funds to offset the costs of responsible pet adoption; fertility and reproductive health support; gender-affirming care; and child adoption. Time off can help employees welcome new members to their homes. 
11. Provide financial advising services. Employer-sponsored financial advising services can assist employees in better caring for their parents, children, and pets by providing comprehensive financial guidance and support. You can support employers to help employees manage the financial aspects of caregiving, including long-term planning for care, navigating Medicaid or Medicare and other government assistance programs, budgeting for care expenses, saving for college, or planning for retirement.
12. Fund pet insurance, training, and wellness programs. Great insurance and employee wellness programs are core to thriving companies. Now, compassionate employers subsidize preventive pet care, such as vaccinations, annual check-ups, dental cleanings, and grooming. These employers also understand the importance of training for the safety and wellbeing of pets and add pet care to the total wellness package for their people.

Related: How can leaders support employee wellness through lifestyle benefits?

Brokers are uniquely situated to help employers show their people they care about who they care for. Adding care benefits to your Lifestyle Spending Account program gives employees freedom and flexibility for life.

Sylvia Flores is the Chief of Brand and Culture for Espres.