Caring for an elderly parent while working full-time can mean trying to solve two problems at once: making sure your parent is safe and supported while keeping up with your job. Start by learning your rights under the FMLA and Illinois law. Then talk with your employer about flexible hours, look into a Dependent Care FSA to help pay for eligible care with pretax dollars, and arrange backup help before a crisis forces you to.

For many families, part-time home care can fill the hours when you’re at work. A caregiver can help with meals, personal care, medication reminders, transportation, companionship, and other daily needs while you focus on your job.

About 63 million Americans, nearly one in four adults, now provide care for an older adult or someone with a serious health condition, according to AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. Six in 10 caregivers also work at a job. Among working caregivers, half say caregiving has caused them to arrive late, leave early, or reduce their hours.

There’s no way to make working and caregiving easy, but you can make the two fit together better. The steps below are some of the most practical ways families in Lombard, Villa Park, Elmhurst, and across DuPage County manage the demands of both.

1. Know Your Leave Rights Before You Need Them

Most working caregivers don’t look into their leave options until a parent is in the hospital and they’re suddenly trying to figure everything out at once. It’s better to understand your rights while things are calm. Knowing what leave may be available, how much notice your employer requires, and what paperwork you’ll need can save you time and stress when your parent needs you.

• Federal FMLA: The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year to care for a parent with a serious health condition. Not everyone qualifies. You generally need to have worked for your employer for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours, at a location where the company has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. FMLA leave can also be taken in pieces, such as a few hours for a weekly appointment.
• Illinois paid leave: Under the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, most Illinois employees earn 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. You can use it for any reason, including driving Dad to a cardiology appointment. Separately, the Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act lets you use part of your employer-provided sick time to care for a family member.
• Protection from caregiver discrimination. Starting in 2025, the Illinois Human Rights Act makes it illegal for employers to treat workers worse because of family caregiving duties.

Ask HR for your company’s leave policy in writing so you know exactly what’s available on the day you need it.

2. Talk to Your Employer About Flexibility

Many caregivers hesitate to tell their employer what’s going on because they worry it will make them look less committed. But keeping your situation to yourself can make work harder for everyone. When your manager understands what you’re dealing with, they have a chance to plan around it. Without that context, missed meetings, unexpected schedule changes, or time away may simply look like performance problems.

Go into the conversation with a specific request rather than just explaining the problem. The goal is to find a workable arrangement that helps you keep up with your responsibilities while giving you some flexibility when your parents need you. Here are a few options that often work:

• Shifting your hours, such as 7 to 3:30 instead of 9 to 5, so you can handle afternoon appointments
• Working from home one or two days a week
• A compressed schedule, like four 10-hour days
• Permission to step away for a short call during the day when a caregiver or doctor needs you

Make it clear that your work still matters to you and explain how you’ll keep things covered. Also ask whether your company has an Employee Assistance Program. Many EAPs include free elder care referrals and short-term counseling, and a lot of employees never use them.

3. Use a Dependent Care FSA and Plan How You’ll Pay for Care

A Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA) lets you set aside part of your paycheck before taxes and use it for care that allows you to work. Starting in 2026, the annual limit is $7,500 per household, or $3,750 if you’re married and file separately. That’s up from $5,000, the first permanent increase since 1986.

Elder care counts only if your parents qualify. In general, your parents must be physically or mentally unable to care for themselves, must qualify as your dependent for tax purposes, and must live with you for more than half the year. Eligible costs can include in-home care during your work hours and adult day programs. IRS Publication 503 spells out the details, and a tax professional can tell you whether your situation fits.

Two more things to know:

• A DCFSA is an employer benefit, so you can only sign up during open enrollment or after a qualifying life event.
• Money you run through a DCFSA can’t also be counted toward the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. Ask your tax preparer which one saves you more.

Beyond the DCFSA, check what your parents already have. Many families pay for home care with a mix of private funds, long-term care insurance, and, for veterans and surviving spouses, VA benefits. Sitting down with your parents and siblings to add up these sources early can keep you from draining your own savings.

4. Share the Load with Family and Local Programs

In many families, one adult child gradually becomes the primary caregiver, often simply because they live closest. That arrangement can be difficult to sustain when you also work full time.

Call a family meeting and divide responsibilities based on what each person can realistically handle. A sibling who lives in another state can’t drive Mom to physical therapy, but they can manage bills online, arrange prescription refills, coordinate appointments, or help pay for a caregiver.

While you’re having those conversations, make sure the necessary legal documents are in place. Your parents should have a durable power of attorney for property and a health care power of attorney. Without them, you may not have the authority to manage finances or make or discuss health care decisions when your parents can no longer do so. An elder law attorney can help your family put the right documents in place before there’s a crisis.

DuPage County families also have public resources close by:

• AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois, the Area Agency on Aging for DuPage County, is based in Lombard. Its caregiver support program offers information, counseling, and referrals. Call (800) 528-2000 or visit ageguide.org.
• DuPage County Senior Services in Wheaton runs a Family Caregiver Resource Center and handles assessments for the state’s Community Care Program, which can help eligible seniors pay for in-home help and adult day care. Call (630) 407-6500.

5. Look Into Adult Day Programs and Simple Daily Check-Ins

If your parents shouldn’t be home alone all day but don’t need one-on-one care, an adult day program can fill the gap. These programs provide supervision, meals, social activities, and structure during the day, and many offer transportation to and from the center. Your parents get a safe, engaging place to spend the day, while you get a workday without constantly worrying about what is happening at home.

When you can’t be there in person, a few small habits help a lot:

• A short video call at the same time each day, such as before you leave for work. A tablet set up for one-tap calling makes this easier for parents who aren’t comfortable with technology.
• A medical alert device your parent wears, so a fall doesn’t go unnoticed until you get home.
• Automatic pill dispensers or medication reminder apps for parents who forget doses.
• A shared calendar for appointments, so you and your siblings can see who’s covering what.

Also, make time for visits that aren’t about caregiving. Have Sunday lunch together or take a walk through Lilacia Park in Lombard. Those ordinary moments help you both remember that you’re still parent and child, not just caregiver and care recipient.

6. Build an Emergency Backup Plan

Something may go wrong on the day you have a big deadline. Plan for those moments now, so you’re not trying to figure out who can help while sitting in an ER waiting room.

Have a short list of people who can step in on short notice, along with their phone numbers and what each person is willing to handle. Keep important information, such as medications, doctors’ names, insurance details, emergency contacts, and your parent’s care instructions in one place. If you already use home care or an adult day program, ask about their backup options.

A good backup plan covers both sides of your life:

• At work: Pick one or two coworkers who can cover your most urgent tasks on short notice and clear the arrangement with your manager ahead of time. Keep a short document listing what’s in progress and where files live.
• At home: Name a backup person who can get to your parent’s house within an hour. That could be a neighbor, a sibling, or a home care agency you’ve already set up.
• For everyone: Keep a one-page sheet with your parent’s medications, doctors, allergies, insurance details, and power of attorney contacts. Put a copy on their refrigerator and one in your phone.

If your parents are coming home after a hospital stay, the first two weeks are often the hardest. Arranging after-surgery care before discharge can keep you from burning through your leave in the first week.

7. Protect Your Own Health

Working caregivers often put their own sleep, exercise, and medical appointments last. Over time, that takes a toll. One in five caregivers say their own health was fair or poor as a result of caregiving.

Pay attention to the early signs of burnout such as trouble sleeping, getting sick more often, losing your patience with people you love, or feeling anxious every time your phone rings. These are signs that you need more support, not signs that you’re failing.

Respite care can give you a planned break. A professional caregiver can stay with your parents for a few hours, a weekend, or longer while you rest, travel, attend to your own needs, or catch up on work. Even one afternoon of reliable help each week can make the rest of the week more manageable. Caregiver support groups, including those offered through AgeGuide, can also give you a place to talk with people who understand what you’re going through.

8. Bring in Part-Time Home Care for Your Work Hours

Most older adults want to remain in their own homes, and part-time home care can make that possible for families balancing caregiving with full-time jobs. You don’t have to start with full-time help. Many families begin with a few shifts a week and add hours as their parent’s needs change.

A typical arrangement might look like this: A caregiver arrives at 9 a.m., helps your dad shower and get dressed, prepares lunch, and reminds him to take his midday medications. In the afternoon, they might drive him to the barber or grocery store, then stay for companionship and a card game until you get home at 5:30. You can focus on work knowing someone you trust is there to help.

Non-medical home care covers the everyday help that keeps a parent safe at home:

• Bathing, dressing, grooming, and other personal care
• Meal preparation, light housekeeping, and laundry
• Medication reminders
• Transportation to appointments, shopping, and errands
• Companionship to ease loneliness
• Specialized Alzheimer’s and dementia care

When your parents need more coverage, overnight care and 24-hour or live-in care are also available. If your parents need skilled medical care, such as wound care or injections, a home health agency handles that, and a home care caregiver can support the rest of the day.

Home Care for Working Families in Lombard and DuPage County

Balancing a full-time job with caring for an aging parent is a lot to carry on your own. The right amount of help can give you back time for work while making sure your parents have someone there when you can’t be.

Assisting Hands Home Care – Lombard provides flexible in-home care for families in Lombard, Elmhurst, Villa Park, Medinah, Itasca, Bensenville, Glendale Heights, Wood Dale, Addison, IL and the surrounding areas in DuPage county. Care can range from a few hours a day to 24-hour support, with no long-term contracts. Our office also received the 2026 Best of Home Care Provider of Choice Award from Activated Insights, based on feedback from our clients.

We accept private pay, long-term care insurance, and VA benefits. Start with a free in-home consultation, where we’ll learn about your parent’s needs, your work schedule, and where you need the most help. From there, we’ll create a care plan that fits your family’s routine. Call (630) 526-6522 or schedule a free consultation.

Caring for Elderly Parents While Working FAQs

Can I take time off work to care for an elderly parent?

Often, yes. If you qualify for FMLA, you can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year to care for a parent with a serious health condition. In Illinois, most workers also earn up to 40 hours of paid leave a year under the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, which can be used for any reason.

Does FMLA cover caring for a parent?

Yes. FMLA covers care for a parent with a serious health condition. To be eligible, you generally must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours, at a location with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. FMLA does not cover in-laws.

Can a Dependent Care FSA pay for in-home care for a parent?

It can, if your parents qualify. Your parents generally must be unable to care for themselves, qualify as your tax dependent, and live with you for more than half the year. The care must also be needed so you can work. The 2026 limit is $7,500 per household, or $3,750 if married filing separately.

How many hours of home care does a working caregiver usually need?

It depends on your parent’s needs and your schedule. Many working families start with a few four-hour shifts a week to cover the riskiest parts of the day, such as bathing or lunch and medications. They add hours as needs grow. A free consultation can help you figure out the right starting point.

What does non-medical home care include?

Non-medical home care includes help with bathing, dressing, meals, light housekeeping, medication reminders, transportation, and companionship. It does not include skilled nursing tasks such as wound care or injections, which a licensed home health agency provides.

Where can DuPage County caregivers find free support?

AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois, the Area Agency on Aging for DuPage County, offers caregiver counseling, support groups, and referrals at (800) 528-2000. DuPage County Senior Services in Wheaton runs a Family Caregiver Resource Center at (630) 407-6500.