When she had to find a Charleston rehabilitation facility for her father-in-law, Betsy Lewis worried that she wouldn't be able to find a good one.

Lewis knew nothing about nursing homes. And with only about a day to find one, she didn't think she'd have time to learn.

But thanks to her employer, First Financial Holdings, Lewis was able to tap into expert help. The company had begun offering a benefit that pays for its employees to use a professional geriatric care manager.

"They saved me a lot of time and worry, so when we did get him here, I was comfortable with where he was," said Lewis, a senior vice president of internal audit at the Charleston-based parent of First Federal Savings and Loan.

Just about every employer is finding a growing number of workers who care for aging loved ones, and a few are starting to tailor benefit packages to help those workers.

A quarter of the nation's households, 22.4 million homes, are involved in caregiving, according to a 1997 study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. That number is almost certainly higher today, and experts expect it to grow as the population ages.

Nearly two-thirds of caregivers work outside the home, the majority of them full time. One study found that within the next five years, more than a third of the nation's workers will be more involved in caring for a parent than for children.

Caregivers have to perform a balancing act. They frequently are distracted and tend to miss more time from work. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 29 percent of working caregivers had to rearrange schedules, while 21 percent reduced hours and 19 percent took time off without pay. One in 10 had to quit their jobs. MetLife estimates that caregiving costs employers as much as $29 billion a year.

"It costs a lot of money for an employee to be on the phone all day, checking caregivers and parents," said Mary Peters, president of Care For Life. "They're making mistakes with their work."

Officials at First Financial long had worried about the effect aging parents could have on the company's work force. They looked for a company that could help.

"We knew at some point down the road, more of our workers would become caregivers for their parents," said Jerry Gazes, senior vice president for human resources.

Gazes found out about Care For Life, a Charleston company that provides home care and manages seniors' elder-care options. Gazes happens to be Peters' classmate.

Gazes wanted Care For Life to create a benefit option that would allow First Financial to help employees with their caregiving responsibilities. In return, First Financial pays Care for Life a retention fee and pays most of the bill when a worker uses the service.

Under the plan that the companies designed, a care manager will provide an assessment of the senior's needs. If he or she needs some help during the day, the company will provide home care, which will allow the employee to go to work. If the senior needs more intense care at a facility such as a nursing home, it will help find one.

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