Unum offers employees caregiving PTO benefit

Unum, an employee benefits provider, is offering its own employee caregivers a paid leave benefit.

As of this year, Unum employees have five consecutive business days of paid leave to care for a spouse, child or parent suffering from a serious health condition.

“We’ve heard from our employees about the challenges that they've been facing with trying to balance work and caregiver responsibilities,” says Marci Cyr, assistant vice president of HR at Unum. “They are under tremendous pressure to find their work/life balance. [These] emotional and financial stressors really impact their ability to focus at work, as well as their overall health.”

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One in six workers are caregivers, according to data from the Family Caregiver Alliance. However, less than one in five of those employees has access to paid family leave benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unum’s own research, which polled 600 working caregivers across the U.S., found that the demands of caregiving can have negative effects on many aspects of their lives.

More than 60% of the caregivers polled said they are facing stress, anxiety or depression. About 49% say they are suffering from exhaustion and 44% say they are facing financial strain.

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“We have a global well-being strategy that is very focused on supporting the physical, emotional and financial well-being of our employees and their families,” Cyr says. “The caregiver benefit resonates with a really wide range of our employee demographics. It meets the needs of the employees where they are in their lives.”

Leah Gove, a leave and disability consultant in HR for Unum, is also an employee caregiver. Gove takes care of her mother, who suffers from a chronic health condition that requires she be on oxygen almost 100% of the time. The additional five days, on top of Unum’s previously provided PTO plan, provides a level of support and stress relief that’s desperately needed, Gove says.

“It's a great addition to the benefits that we already have and it really shows that Unum recognizes that there are a lot of employees who double as caregivers,” Gove says. “It's a huge relief to know that the benefit is there if I need it.”