Dow Adds Child Care Assistance, Caregiving Benefits

Dow has joined a growing cache of employers that are focusing on support to help workers who are caregivers to children or other family members.

The Midland, Mich.-based chemical company announced this month that it has added a child care assistance program and two new partnerships that provide its 19,000 North American employees with caregiver support.

Dow’s new child care assistance program provides qualifying employees with a $1,500 contribution from Dow to their dependent care flexible savings account to use toward qualifying child care expenses. The benefit is available for U.S. employees who qualify based on annual base pay and/or job grade, Dow said.

Dow also rolled out a new caregiving benefit from provider Cariloop. Through the platform, Dow employees can access a content library, as well as a suite of digital tools, to utilize when planning and managing the care of a family member. Employees also have access to “care coaches” through Cariloop who can guide them through their caregiving journey as well as assist with researching and vetting resources.

Dow also partnered with TOOTRiS, a tech platform specializing in child care solutions, to give employees access to a range of child care strategies tailored to each family’s needs.

“We all have tremendous responsibilities at work and at home, and supporting our workforce beyond just the paycheck, with benefits that take into consideration the real demands in people’s lives, is more than just a nice-to-do,” said Lisa Bryant, CHRO at Dow. “The well-being of Team Dow is a top priority for us as we determine what resources we will invest in to better support the incredible talent we have at Dow.”

We rounded up other stories from SHRM Online on caregiving and child care support.

How People Managers Can Support Employees Who Are Caregivers

Caregivers are the fastest-growing employee group, with 73% of all employees having some type of current caregiving responsibility, according to a recent Harvard Business School study. Many employees are not just caring for a child but also for an elderly parent or a family member with a disability.

More than half (53%) of employees ages 40-49 and 36% of all workers ages 40 and older are caregivers for an adult, typically a partner/spouse or parent, according to a recent AARP report. Survey participants reported having to work remotely, change work hours, reduce hours, use paid caregiving leave, or quit their job altogether to provide care within the last five years.

Employers are starting to pay attention to this growing trend. “We have noticed an uptick since the start of the pandemic in the number of people who have talked about their increased responsibilities in the open," said Piyush Mehta, CHRO at Genpact, a New York City-based global professional services firm that employs 115,000 people globally.

From being flexible and having meaningful conversations with employees to making sure workers understand the benefits available to them, people managers can help employees who are caregivers.

(SHRM Online)

Lessons From One Employer’s Legacy Onsite Child Care Program

Herbs and spices company Frontier Co-op has been focusing on supporting working parents for decades. It has run an onsite child care center for nearly 40 years, which has been a huge contributor to the company’s attraction and retention efforts, said Megan Schulte, vice president of human resources at Frontier.

“When we’re going through the recruiting phase, it’s huge for us to say, ‘You can start here and you can get your kids started at our child care center next week,’ ” Schulte explained. “On the retention side, having your kids here onsite and being able to see them throughout the day and interact with them … once you have that experience, leaving that is very, very difficult.”

Frontier’s child care center at its headquarters—which currently serves around 110 kids—is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and supports children ages 6 weeks to 12 years. It comes at a bargain price: between $2 and $3 an hour per child for employees.

(SHRM Online)

Why—and How—Employers Should Beef Up Support for Working Moms

Working mothers historically have struggled with finding their place in the workforce while also managing their family lives.

But in many ways, the past couple of years have been more difficult than ever. The spread of COVID-19, followed by the end of federal pandemic relief funding for child care (which led some child care providers to close), resulted in an exodus of mothers leaving the workforce. Meanwhile, significant numbers of working mothers report feeling burned out at work as they try to balance their personal and professional lives.

“It’s an age-old story,” said Cheri Wheeler, vice president and senior consultant at Kelly Benefits Strategies, a benefits consultant firm based in Sparks, Md. “There have been so many working mothers struggling.”

That’s why employers need to recognize the challenges working mothers face and provide resources to help, especially during a time when attracting and retaining talent is proving difficult, she said. Helping mothers—and all parents—in the workforce “helps the employer in terms of reduced turnover, increased productivity, and overall culture,” she said.

(SHRM Online)