Ceridian Introduces Solution to Reduce Employee Absenteeism Caused by Temporary Breakdowns in Child, Adult and Elder Care; Human Resources Company Teams up with Colorado-Based Work Options Group to Provide Comprehensive Backup Care Solution

Business Wire, Sept 12, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS -- Ceridian (http://www.myceridian.com), a leader in managed human resource solutions that maximize the value of people, has launched Ceridian Backup Care Solutions powered by Work Options Group (http://www.workoptionsgroup.com). This fully managed solution is designed for companies that want to provide their employees with a fast, easy, reliable and affordable way to secure care for their loved ones of any age, so they can get to work and remain productive when a breakdown in care occurs.

Employers purchasing Ceridian Backup Care Solutions will provide their employees 24/7 phone and Web access to backup care specialists who will gather the necessary information and schedule care with an individually screened and contracted provider from Work Options Group's provider network. The network consists of thousands of individually contracted providers throughout the U.S. and spans the full breadth of care providers, from drop-in child care centers to home health care agencies. Work Options Group, working on behalf of Ceridian, manages every aspect of the program, including scheduling of care and payments to providers.

Unexpected breakdowns, such as an ill child or an absent adult caregiver, and anticipated breakdowns, such as school closures for conferences, holidays or surgery for an adult, happen in everyday life. Ceridian Backup Care Solutions offers an array of options to help people manage these occurrences without missing work. For some, this will mean having a caregiver come to their home to care for a sick child or adult. Others will get the help they need to care for an older child during school vacation or for a parent in another city or state who is recovering from surgery.

Using Ceridian Backup Care Solutions, employees can resolve breakdowns in care for any age dependent (infants through the elderly), healthy or mildly ill, anytime of the day or night, every day of the year. Employers that purchase the solution elect to subsidize some or all of the costs for care. According to Ceridian, this solution is particularly well suited for employers with employees in multiple locations and for employers who must maintain very strong attendance levels, such as health care providers, time-sensitive banking and financial services professionals, and manufacturing employers.

"This is an excellent program that employers of all sizes in every industry can use to curb absenteeism for employees who have consistent, and sometimes unexpected, caregiving responsibilities," said Jim Corcoran, senior vice president of Ceridian Benefit Services. "We are pleased to be working with Work Options Group on this new solution. Their expertise in backup care services matches very well with our vast experience in helping employers with their work-life programs."

Added Work Options Group president Chris Gatti, "Our full-service backup care program is a cost-effective way for employees in every work location to get to work when they experience a temporary breakdown in their caregiving arrangements for any loved one, for any reason, at any time of the day or night. More than 400,000 employees from over 100 companies currently recognize the value of this program. Working with Ceridian, the industry leader in employee effectiveness programs, provides the opportunity to make full-service backup care programs the standard in every industry."

The introduction of Ceridian Backup Care Solutions represents an extension to Ceridian's wide range of backup care programs available to clients through Ceridian's Employee Effectiveness portfolio. Ceridian now offers a full range and continuum of services--from the resource and referral services available through its EAP and work-life program to Just In Case (Ceridian's backup child care and elder care planning and reimbursement program), Kids in the WorkPlace (a holiday and vacation care program provided on-site at the workplace for school-age children, kindergarten through age 12, when schools are closed and businesses are open) and Ceridian's self-service backup care locator released in April 2005.

About Work Options Group

Work Options Group's Backup Care Options program enables more than 400,000 employees throughout the U.S. and Canada to get to work when they experience temporary breakdowns in their child, adult and elder care arrangements. Backup Care Options resolves every common breakdown in caregiving situations by offering backup care in every location, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for infants through the elderly, whether they are healthy or mildly ill. Work Options Group's Provider Network encompasses thousands of individually contracted home care agencies and licensed child care centers in all 50 states and Canada. Work Options Group manages every aspect of the program, including scheduling of care and payments to providers. The result is a proven, cost-effective way to reduce absenteeism and increase productivity. Additional information is available at www.workoptionsgroup.com.

About Ceridian