Danielle Leath
Senior Vice President, Employee Health & Benefits
Many organizations recognize that caregivers in the workforce may face significant stress, especially when balancing care for children, aging adults, partners, or family members with special needs or chronic conditions. Traditional benefits may require employees to make tradeoffs between different caregiving responsibilities. A single benefit program designed for broad use may address only some employee caregiving needs.
Caregiving responsibilities can create challenges that may affect employee attention and productivity. But your data may help reveal patterns and opportunities for support.
Creating practical, data-driven caregiving strategies
Without measuring the issue, it can be difficult to understand where support may be most needed. Using your data to guide decisions may help you build strategies that better support employees with caregiving responsibilities. Existing data can help guide decisions related to performance, retention, and workforce planning.
What does the data tell you?
Your data may contain useful signals — such as leave history, EAP trends, and enrollment patterns — that can help you understand how caregiving pressures may be affecting your workforce. Some organizations add benefits without first measuring the need. Adding more programs may not address a problem that has not been clearly measured.
Using data to identify needs and inform solutions can be one practical approach. It can help you identify where the most important issues may be and which solutions may be most helpful.
This may involve using HR analytics, scheduling software, and forecasting tools to analyze attendance data, turnover trends, and employee benefits usage. With useful information in hand, you can consider targeted work flexibility and support programs that may be adapted to different employee needs.
You may also be able to spot patterns early by tracking overtime hours, commute distances, and caregiving-related PTO requests. According to a report from S&P Global, this may inform options such as flexible hours, paid time off, or hybrid work arrangements, depending on organizational policy and employee eligibility.
Data that comes directly from your employees
You can also gather useful insights by interviewing employees. Consider conducting a survey to better understand what caregiving responsibilities affect your employees and what types of support they believe would be helpful. This may include assistance with daily activities such as feeding, bathing, and dressing, or practical needs such as transportation, grocery shopping, and meal preparation. You can also ask how caregiving responsibilities may affect an employee’s ability to do their job.
Remember, one size may not fit all
Your workforce likely spans generations, cultures, and, in some cases, geographies. Employees are likely in a wide range of economic situations and family circumstances. That’s why it can be important to design benefits and support that may be tailored to individual needs. Your goals may include reducing disruption, supporting productivity, managing costs, and helping retain talent.
Partner with us
Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) offers support to help employers evaluate practical programs that may align with the needs of sandwiched employees. Contact us for help comparing vendors, finding the right EAP partners, and reviewing PTO policies to better support caregivers balancing work, care, and home responsibilities.
Resources
Download the MMA Caregiving Toolkit to learn more about supporting your workforce.
Read Supporting Sandwiched Employees for additional context and information.
Attend our upcoming webinar: Things I Learned: A Caregiver’s Journey. Learn practical ideas for supporting caregivers through real-life insights, family preparation, and helpful tools.
July 21, 2026
1 pm, CT | 2 pm, ET
Register here
