title: Costs of a work-family intervention: evidence from the work, family, and health network.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the cost to the workplace of implementing initiatives to reduce work-family conflict.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cost analysis conducted alongside a group-randomized multisite controlled experimental study, using a microcosting approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  An information technology firm.
  
  
  METHODS
  Employees (n = 1004) and managers (n = 141) randomized to the intervention arm.
  
  
  METHODS
  STAR (Start. Transform. Achieve. Results.) to enhance employees' control over their work time, increase supervisor support for employees to manage work and family responsibilities, and reorient the culture toward results.
  
  
  METHODS
  A taxonomy of activities related to customization, start-up, and implementation was developed. Resource use and unit costs were estimated for each activity, excluding research-related activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Economic costing approach (accounting and opportunity costs). Sensitivity analyses on intervention costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total cost of STAR was $709,654, of which $389,717 was labor costs and $319,937 nonlabor costs (including $313,877 for intervention contract). The cost per employee participation in the intervention was $340 (95% confidence interval: $330-$351); $597 ($561-$634) for managers and $300 ($292-$308) for other employees (2011 prices).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A detailed activity costing approach allows for more accurate cost estimates and identifies key drivers of cost. The key cost driver was employees' time spent on receiving the intervention. Ignoring this cost, which is usual in studies that cost workplace interventions, would seriously underestimate the cost of a workplace initiative.
authors: Carolina
authors: C
authors: Barbosa
authors: Jeremy W
authors: JW
authors: Bray
authors: Krista
authors: K
authors: Brockwood
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Reeves
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005190:Family; D005195:Family Relations; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000191:economics*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance