14% of companies in the United States offered back up care in 2006, but 74% of Human Resources Departments report being interested in offering it.

What is back up care? It’s child care or elder care for an employer’s dependents in case of emergencies (e.g., a baby sitter that doesn’t show up, a sick kid that needs to go home from school immediately, an elder care aide who cancels).

“When we’re concerned about our loved ones, we’re not focusing on our jobs. And I think most people understand that we’re all like that,” said Marilyn Lagerman, chief human resources officer for Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner, also a Work Options Group client, which has more than 2,500 employees in 22 law offices worldwide. “So we really respect people’s commitments and concern for their families and their loved ones, and we think backup care is a way that we can demonstrate this to the firm - that we care about them not only as employees but we care about them as individuals.”

Read Back Up Care is a Perk that Helps Workers, Employers for more details on the success of these sorts of back up care programs.