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Bennett Rosenthal, 52, understands it's financiallydifficult for many of his 25 employees to afford to live near hisinsurance company in Deerfield, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicagowith a median household income of $112,000 and a 2005 median homeprice just shy of $413,000. The neighboring suburbs are alsoupscale. So a number of Rosenthal Bros. employees live outside thearea and battle Chicago traffic to get to work on time. Duringheavy snowfalls, they may not make it in at all.
To cut down on absenteeism and improve morale, Rosenthal Bros.has gone the way of a growing number of U.S. businesses--it offersemployees up to $15,000 as part of an employer-assisted housingprogram. Once a perk for high-power execs, these programs let eventhe lowest-level wage earners reap benefits by offering forgivableor deferred-payment loans, a grant, a matched savings plan orhome-buyer education.
The Housing America's Workforce Act, introduced in theSenate, would give companies that help eligible employees buy homesa tax credit of 50 cents for every dollar they provide up to$10,000 or 6 percent of the purchase price of the employee'shome, whichever is less.
For now, Fannie Mae helps employers set up EAH programs, whilenonprofits such as the Metropolitan Housing Council, whichRosenthal uses, handle the administrative aspects.
So far, two Rosenthal Bros. employees have bought homes throughthe program. And in Illinois, the state matches down-paymentassistance dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 for income-eligibleparticipants and gives a 50-cents-per-dollar tax credit to theemployer. "For fairly nominal costs," says Rosenthal,"the program helps retain loyal and dedicatedemployees."
