Imagine for a moment that you are a department manager in your company, and at this moment Bob, one of your best workers, arrives late, yet again. Ever since his mom had a stroke and he has had to take care of her, not only has he been late for work sometimes, but he has also been stressed and his job performance has been suffering. You have been giving him some leeway as you understand what he is going through, but you wish you could do more.

The above situation is common, as more and more workers over age 40 find themselves caring for their aging parents. As a manager or employer, you do have some options for helping your employees through this stressful time. Here are some tips:

As caregivers can easily experience burnout and poor job performance, have your company build mental health counseling for caregivers into its benefits package. If this is not an option, be sure to connect employees to resources that can help ease the stress of caregiving.

Keep resource books on hand that answer frequent questions on legal, financial and health care options, to shorten any research time.

Encourage employees to have that "talk" with their parents to find out if they have a power of attorney and a health care directive, basic essential documents that everyone needs in a case of emergency. Encourage employees to ask their parents about their finances and to seek advice from a qualified financial planner to help parents make plans for their own financial well-being.

Finally, set up a system to deal with employees who are often absent because of having to care for an aging parent. If your company is having increasing problems with absenteeism, consider building a consultation with experts in the aging field into your company's employee benefits.

Are you having a similar situation at your workplace with caregivers? If you have any tips to add, please do share.