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Employees who look after parents need flexible schedules, time off and help finding care centers By Christina Rexrode, Times Staff Writer More workers are caring for aging parents, but theirs is a plight that is often lost in the company benefits scramble. Only 7 percent of U.S. companies have specific policies on caring for elderly family members, according to a January survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. But about one in six workers is responsible for an elderly, ill or disabled family member, and that proportion is expected to rise over the next decade, according to the National Family Caregivers Association. Elder care "is something employers are very aware of," said Jennifer Schramm, SHRM's manager of workplace trends and forecasting. "But they are not necessarily at the stage where they know what to do about it." Employers will have to figure it out quickly. When workers take care of elderly family members, it can - at the least - cut into productivity and, at the most, force them to quit work altogether. The mental toll is heavy, too: It's emotional, stressful and time-consuming. Karen Ryals vividly remembers the pain of looking after her father, who had developed Alzheimer's disease by 2000 and needed a caregiver 24 hours a day. When he became especially upset, or when he had to go to the hospital, Ryals, the CEO of Achieve Tampa Bay, would drop everything for him. Because of her executive position, Ryals didn't have a problem leaving the office in the middle of the day, or even in the middle of a meeting. But most people, she said, aren't so fortunate. Her father died in 2002. "You're sad and you're upset and angry and grief-stricken," said Ryals, 52, recalling the caregiving years, "and here you are trying to juggle work and family and personal life. And it's just horrific." Flexible benefits Carole Kain, a pediatric nurse practitioner in Boca Raton, is grateful that her employer let her phone in for weekly staff meetings and skip out on certain work events after her mother had a bad fall in August. But just as important, Kain said, was her co-workers' sympathy and understanding. "I couldn't see my own distress," said Kain, 60. "But they could see it. A colleague would look in and say, 'Look, let me cover this for you.' They didn't make me feel guilty about it." Help with care "They're not going to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.," said Jon Cecil, the chief HR officer. Cecil and his staff considered creating an on-site elder care center for employees, but decided it was too expensive. Lee Memorial has three child care centers, where employees pay below-market prices. So HR staffers did the next best thing: They persuaded a handful of local elder care centers to stay open late, and also negotiated discounts for employees. Reliable information, Cecil said, is another commodity he can offer employees. He invites elder care representatives to the quarterly employee health fairs, and distributes spreadsheets on local services. Kain, the nurse practitioner, has had to defer some of her career goals to care for her 86-year-old mother. She knew it was worth it, she said, when her mom started to smile again. Christina Rexrode can be reached at crexrode@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8318. Fast facts 58 percent: Companies that say they offer flexible schedules Caregiving, by the numbers
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