Note on market coverage: This article draws on materials from both Korea and the United States. Each piece of information is labeled 🇰🇷 Korea or 🇺🇸 U.S. in the text to indicate which country it applies to.
You are prepping materials for your morning meeting when a text pops up reminding you of your parents' hospital appointment. You call the care aide on your lunch break. After work, you rush out to pick up a prescription. If that kind of day sounds familiar, you are already a working caregiver. This role tends to arrive without warning and without time to prepare — and it lasts far longer than most people expect.
🇺🇸 U.S. According to materials from AARP and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), approximately 61% of family caregivers responsible for elder care are also employed at the same time. Of those, 67% reported difficulty managing work and caregiving simultaneously, and 16% said they had stopped working altogether for a period of time. 🇰🇷 Korea A survey conducted by 직장갑질119 (Workplace Gapjil 119) in 2024 found that 59% of workers said they could not freely use family care leave or family care sabbatical even when they had a family member who needed care. The policies exist, but the real-world conditions make them difficult to use.
When work and caregiving collide, the first casualty is usually the ability to focus on the job. 🇺🇸 U.S. An employee benefits report from the United States found that 81% of employees experience caregiving-related stress at a high or moderate level. Fifty-three percent had missed work because of a caregiving issue, and 48% said that finding and coordinating care services had reduced their productivity. Being physically at your desk while your mind is with your parents — what is known as presenteeism — is the most common experience reported by working caregivers.
So what can actually be done? The starting point is understanding which programs you are entitled to use. 🇰🇷 Korea Under the Labor Standards Act and the Act on Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance, workers who have a family member requiring care due to illness, accident, or old age may apply for up to 90 days of family care leave per year, and the leave may be used in separate installments. Employers who refuse such requests may be subject to a fine of up to 5 million won. 🇺🇸 U.S. At the federal level, the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) guarantees eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year, and in 2025 alone, more than 15 million workers made use of this program. However, workplaces with fewer than 50 employees are not covered, so it is important to check your own employment situation first.
Alongside making use of available programs, organizing the structure of your daily life matters just as much. Integrating caregiving appointments into the same calendar app you use for work can reduce the chance of sudden conflicts. If possible, try negotiating remote work or a flexible schedule with your employer. 🇺🇸 U.S. Research shows that caregivers who work in environments where flexible arrangements are available show meaningfully better overall well-being. There is no perfect solution, but small structural changes can make a real difference in preventing long-term burnout.
Keeping your caregiving situation entirely to yourself at work can also backfire. Sharing your circumstances appropriately with a manager means that an unexpected absence or a dip in focus is more likely to be understood as a manageable situation rather than irresponsibility. 🇺🇸 U.S. According to 2025 data from SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), 42% of working caregivers reported experiencing career-related consequences tied to their caregiving responsibilities. Asking for what you need early on tends to be more sustainable in the long run than quietly pushing through until you reach your limit.
Living between the office and the hospital is genuinely hard. But the weight of this does not rest entirely on one person's ability to endure. Checking what programs are available, building a small amount of structure, and asking for help when it is needed — doing just these three things can make today a little different. Sierra Care Advisor is here alongside Korean-American caregiving families who are trying to find their footing in exactly this kind of reality.
Sources: 직장갑질119 (Workplace Gapjil 119) and Global Research (2024 family care leave survey); Republic of Korea Ministry of Employment and Labor Policy Briefing (family care leave program guide); AARP and S&P Global (2024 Caregiving in the Workplace Report); U.S. HHS and ASPE (Employer Supports for Family Caregivers of Older Adults); National Partnership for Women & Families (FMLA Key Facts 2025); Guardian Life (Caregiving Trends 2025); SHRM (2025); Bravo My Life (2025 U.S. employee benefits report summary coverage).
Note: This article was compiled by AI from the sources cited above. We strive for accuracy, but for decisions about your specific situation, please confirm the latest guidance from a professional or the relevant agency.