With the financial straits people are in today, for employees to say they’d be happy taking a pay cut in exchange for a benefit, you know they must really want it.

So what is it employees crave so badly? A less-rigid work schedule.

Some 20% of Americans said they’d be willing to have their take home pay cut 5% to 10% if it meant more flextime/telecommuting options, in a recent Workplace Options, Inc., survey of 746 U.S. workers.

The reason employees want more flexibility in their schedules: They feel it’ll help them with their caregiving responsibilities at home.

In fact, another 42% answered “maybe” when asked if they’d take a pay cut in exchange for more caregiving support from their employer.

One problem: The majority of workers (53%) feel as though their employers don’t offer programs to help them balance work and caregiving responsibilities.

Budget-friendly morale booster

For those organizations trying to think of a way to boost morale without adding to the budget, adding more flextime and telecommuting options into your policies may be the way to go.

And if across-the-board policy changes are out of the question, consider only offering the benefits to top performers.

Another option: Let employees help each other out in the name of work/life balance. For example, perhaps some employees would be open to a system were they cover for each other when someone needs to get to their kid’s after-school soccer game or just get a jump on traffic for an out-of-town trip before the holidays.

Tags: boost morale, budget, caregiving, flextime, holidays, morale booster, pay, survey, work/life balance, Workplace Options