Career Perks and Adoption

Are You Entitled to Employer-provided Adoption Benefits?

A growing number of employers offer benefits to adoptive parents. In 1990, a survey by Hewitt Associates found that only 12 percent of employers surveyed offered some kind of adoption benefits; by 1995, the proportion had climbed to 23 percent. In the 2004 Hewitt survey of 936 major U.S. employers, the percentage grew to 39 percent, with an average maximum reimbursement of $3,879 for adoption expenses.

Employers that offer adoption benefits cite various advantages for their companies, including maintenance of productivity, retention of good employees, a positive public image and equity in benefits for all employees.

Employer-sponsored adoption benefits take many forms. Typically, adoption benefits mirror benefits available to new biological parents. Adoption benefits fall into three general categories:

• Information resources
• Financial assistance
• Parental leave policies

Employers may offer one or more of these types of benefits during a single adoption.

Resources made available to employees may include referrals to licensed adoption agencies, support groups and organizations; access to an adoption specialist to answer questions about the process; and help with special situations, such as a special needs adoption. Many employers that offer this type of benefit contract with a human resources consulting firm to provide these services to employees.

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