Additional Findings:
- Over half of all companies (56%) offer child care assistance to employees, most commonly flex time or leaves of absence.
- However, few companies offer paid leave (14%) or unpaid leave (29%) for childcare, conducted with readers of the HR Daily Advisor.
- 20% of companies offer paid leave (excluding sick leave) for spouse care.
- However, almost 40% offer unpaid leave for this purpose.
- Over 60% of companies offer elder care responsibility assistance to employees, typically leaves of absence, flextime and information referrals.
- However, just 12% offer paid leave and 28% offer unpaid leave for elder care.
- In around 60% of companies, company-funded benefits continue through unpaid leaves. In 55% of companies, seniority accrues during unpaid leaves.
The survey, conducted in July/August 2011, received 902 responses, of which just under 80% originated from companies with fewer than 500 employees. Respondents represented a typical mix of company sizes and industries.
Thanks to all who participated in the survey.
[For a complete survey report including breakdowns by company size, industry, and geographic location, go here.]
Future survey topics include:
- Domestic partnership benefits
- Incentive compensation
- 401(k)
- Healthcare
Organization Covered by The Federal FMLA?
| Number | Percent | |
| Yes | 758 | 84% |
| No | 122 | 14% |
| Unsure | 20 | 2% |
Number of Weeks of Paid Leave (excl. Sick Leave) Offered for Spouse Care
| Number of weeks | Number respondents | Percentage |
| None | 654 | 80% |
| < 1 week | 17 | 2% |
| 1-4 weeks | 77 | 9% |
| 5-8 weeks | 12 | 2% |
| 9-11 weeks | 1 | 0% |
| 12 weeks + | 59 | 7% |
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Number of Weeks of Unpaid Leave (excl. FMLA Leave) Offered for Spouse Care
| Number of weeks | Number respondents | Percentage |
| None | 517 | 63% |
| < 1 week | 15 | 2% |
| 1-4 weeks | 87 | 11% |
| 5-8 weeks | 27 | 3% |
| 9-11 weeks | 3 | 0% |
| 12 weeks + | 167 | 21% |
Child Care Responsibility Assistance Offered to Employees*
| Number | Percent | |
| On-site child care facilities | 30 | 4% |
| Payment of child care costs directly to an outside facility | 7 | 1% |
| Full/part reimbursement | 36 | 5% |
| Flextime | 280 | 36% |
| Leaves of absence | 268 | 35% |
| Job sharing | 43 | 6% |
| Do not offer | 343 | 44% |
Paid Leave Weeks (excl. Sick Leave) Offered for Child Care
| Number of weeks | Number respondents | Percentage |
| None | 678 | 86% |
| < 1 week | 15 | 2% |
| 1-4 weeks | 61 | 8% |
| 5-8 weeks | 13 | 2% |
| 9-11 weeks | 1 | 0% |
| 12 weeks + | 19 | 3% |
Unpaid Leave Weeks (excl. FMLA Leave) Offered for Child Care
| Number of weeks | Number respondents | Percentage |
| None | 562 | 71% |
| < 1 week | 11 | 1% |
| 1-4 weeks | 82 | 10% |
| 5-8 weeks | 25 | 3% |
| 9-11 weeks | 2 | 0% |
| 12 weeks + | 105 | 13% |
Elder Care Responsibility Assistance Offered to Employees*
| Number | Percent | |
| Info. referrals | 238 | 31% |
| Full/part reimbursement | 5 | 1% |
| Flextime | 242 | 32% |
| Leaves of absence | 315 | 41% |
| Job sharing | 32 | 4% |
| Do not offer | 278 | 37% |
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*More than one type of assistance could be specified.
Paid Leave Weeks (excl. Sick Leave) Offered for Elder Care
| Number of weeks | Number respondents | Percentage |
| None | 679 | 88% |
| < 1 week | 13 | 2% |
| 1-4 weeks | 51 | 7% |
| 5-8 weeks | 10 | 1% |
| 9-11 weeks | 0 | 0% |
| 12 weeks + | 18 | 2% |
Unpaid Leave Weeks (excl. FMLA Leave) Offered for Elder Care
| Number of weeks | Number respondents | Percentage |
| None | 553 | 72% |
| < 1 week | 12 | 2% |
| 1-4 weeks | 75 | 10% |
| 5-8 weeks | 23 | 3% |
| 9-11 weeks | 2 | 0% |
| 12 weeks + | 106 | 14% |
Do Company-Funded Benefits Continue During Unpaid Leaves? (exc. FMLA Leave)
| Number | Percent | |
| Yes | 452 | 59% |
| No | 311 | 41% |
Does Seniority Accrue During Unpaid Leaves? (excl. FMLA Leave)
| Number | Percent | |
| Yes | 417 | 55% |
| No | 341 | 45% |
Employees Able to Use Sick Leave to Care for a Sick Spouse
| Number | Percent | |
| Yes | 570 | 75% |
| No | 192 | 25% |
Employees Able to Use Sick Leave to Care for a Sick Child
| Number | Percent | |
| Yes | 581 | 76% |
| No | 180 | 24% |
Employees Able to Use Sick Leave to Care for a Sick Parent
| Number | Percent | |
| Yes | 545 | 72% |
| No | 216 | 28% |
For your convenience, here’s a list of the top 5 most popular articles on the Compensation Daily Advisor website so far this month.
Incentive Comp Threatening Your Organization? Think AIG
The recent economic meltdown has ushered in a new sobriety, says expert Jack Dolmat-Connell, designed to prevent (or at least mitigate) what many view as one of the primary sources of the collapse—excessive compensation.
Never Uncapped, Short and Long Term, with Clawbacks
In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured tips from Jack Dolmat-Connell on reducing risk from ill-conceived incentive compensation arrangements. Today, his three keys for avoiding problems, plus an introduction to BLR’s all-in-one website, HR.BLR.com.
Build a Perfect Peer Group for Compensation Comparisons
You’re asked by your company’s board of directors to reexamine your executive compensation. How does the company’s executive pay stack up compared to that of other organizations? First step: Peer group, says expert Aaron Boyd.
Build a Perfect Peer Group for Compensation Comparisons
You’re asked by your company’s board of directors to reexamine your executive compensation. How does the company’s executive pay stack up compared to that of other organizations? First step: Peer group, says expert Aaron Boyd.
Peer Group ‘Arms Race’ for Executive Pay?
"Can the members of your peer group get in an “arms race” for executive pay? It can happen, says consultant Aaron Boyd, so choose your peer group carefully."
Who’s Offering What for Holidays and PTO? Survey Results Reveal All
Our recent survey on paid time off reveals that more and more organizations are going the PTO route for offering time off. For holidays, over 90% of respondents are offering New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving, and 81% will offer the Monday after Christmas.
may feel that the current ditactisfsasion with Grant extends further than just one match, as the statistics of his season so far will attest, but for better or worse, I do not like to indulge in the numbers
Like many Brita products, this jug caerirs the digital countdown timer which tells you when you need a new Maxtra cartridge. This is very misleading for 2 reasons:1. It assumes you run way through the jug several times a day (which I don’t I only fill it every other day).2. It implies that Maxtra cartridges cease to function after 4 weeks of regular use (they don’t I’ve checked the water quality using a conductivity probe at work they’re good for a fair bit longer than that!).The above two problems can mean you’d spend a fortune on the Maxtra cartridges, which don’t come cheap, but if you ignore the timer and change the cartridge when the water starts to taste unfiltered, it’s fine.The jug itself is well-made, stylish and fits into the door of the fridge, so you can have filtered, cold water ready-to-go all of the time. Aside from the timer and the expensive cartridges, I can’t really fault this other than to say that it’s very, very expensive for what it is.