Help for college
Not just a scholarship program (offered by SAS) but also—at EY—college coaches that can help high school students with applications and tough decisions are among the means of assistance available to employees' kids. And although it's not common, Entrepreneur.com says that 13 percent of 510 HR professionals surveyed on the topic said that their organization provided educational scholarships to employees' kids.
Family or career? Today's workers really can have both. Here are 10 ways that imaginative employers are accommodating their employees with families.
Free babysitting
Starbucks has jumped into the better benefits fray by providing employees up to 10 days of subsidized childcare for parents whose regular daycare arrangements have gone awry. In its partnership with childcare provider Care.com Inc., parents will be able to take advantage of in-home backup childcare at a cost $1 an hour or $2 an hour after the fourth child, while care at a daycare center will cost $5 per day.
Best Buy also recently added this perk, offering up to 10 days with a copay of $10 a day.
Paid caregiver leave
While in 2017, just two companies responded to a PL+US survey that they provided paid leave for employees to take care of a sick relative or loved one, that's risen in just a year to about a dozen. Such a move is bound to be popular considering that according to a 2015 survey from the National Alliance of Caregiving and AARP, approximately 34.2 million Americans provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months, while 43.5 million provided unpaid care to an adult or child during the same 12-month period. Incidentally, Monster.com has a list of companies that provide caregiver support benefits.
Developmental health and parenting support
Cambia Health Solutions, Inc. is now offering support to parents with young children by adding digital behavioral health company Cognoa's platform to its regional health plans. Cognoa provides "support to parents with common parenting challenges and the developmental health of their children, while also identifying children who are at risk for developmental delays, including autism."
As a means of parental support that kicks in after the more usual benefits covering pregnancy and infancy, the program—aimed at early childhood—"offers reliable guidance on day-to-day challenges and personalized resources that enable parents to assess, track, and positively impact their children's unique developmental growth," according to Cognoa.
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Bringing babies to work
Since the U.S. is the only advanced country not guaranteeing paid maternity leave, it's not surprising that new mothers can have a tough time returning to work when confronted with the challenges of safe, affordable day care for a newborn. Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa addressed that problem, according to the Des Moines Register, by allowing infants at work. The new policy, just introduced in December, permits "new moms, dads and guardians to bring their infants into work full-time for up to six months or when the child begins to crawl—whichever milestone comes first."
Mother's rooms
Breastfeeding moms can retreat to mother's rooms (a.k.a. lactation rooms) at some companies, such as at The Penny Hoarder, according to 1 Million for Work Flexibility. There they can have privacy to pump breast milk as needed throughout the day, says Verywell Family, and depending on the company, have access to other important benefits such as a sink, a small refrigerator, a breast pump and a microwave.
Babysitters on business trips
Parents.com has looked into the whole family-friendly benefits thing, and points out that already Earth-friendly Patagonia is also family friendly, allowing parents who have to travel on business not only to bring along baby, but also a family member or a caregiver from the company's childcare center. And Patagonia will pay for it, to boot. Oh, and about that childcare center—company buses pick up the kids from local schools to bring them to the center for after-school care.
Egg freezing
Facebook may be suffering some reputational damage these days from its intrusive habits concerning members' data, but one thing it does that prospective parents likely approve of is to pay for egg freezing under a $20,000 benefit to cover fertility treatments. The company also kicks in with subsidies on childcare and even adoption fees.
Onsite summer camp
Yes, analytics software company SAS has an onsite camp at its headquarters offering everything from swim lessons to family campouts for its workers' kiddies. The company's North Carolina headquarters also offers a health care center and a recreation and fitness facility; its work/life center provides resources and counseling on topics like parenting teens.
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Flex time
Diapers is one company that believes in being flexible with employees who need to arrange their work hours a little more conveniently around their kids. It also welcomes babies at meetings. The Penny Hoarder is another company that's flexible about working hours, whether it's because the sitter is late or the kid's soccer game is early—or you just need to work at home in your pajamas one day a week to recover from all those parenting obligations.
Help for college
Not just a scholarship program (offered by SAS) but also—at EY—college coaches that can help high school students with applications and tough decisions are among the means of assistance available to employees' kids. And although it's not common, Entrepreneur.com says that 13 percent of 510 HR professionals surveyed on the topic said that their organization provided educational scholarships to employees' kids.
Family or career? Today's workers really can have both. Here are 10 ways that imaginative employers are accommodating their employees with families.
Free babysitting
Starbucks has jumped into the better benefits fray by providing employees up to 10 days of subsidized childcare for parents whose regular daycare arrangements have gone awry. In its partnership with childcare provider Care.com Inc., parents will be able to take advantage of in-home backup childcare at a cost $1 an hour or $2 an hour after the fourth child, while care at a daycare center will cost $5 per day.
Best Buy also recently added this perk, offering up to 10 days with a copay of $10 a day.
Paid caregiver leave
While in 2017, just two companies responded to a PL+US survey that they provided paid leave for employees to take care of a sick relative or loved one, that's risen in just a year to about a dozen. Such a move is bound to be popular considering that according to a 2015 survey from the National Alliance of Caregiving and AARP, approximately 34.2 million Americans provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months, while 43.5 million provided unpaid care to an adult or child during the same 12-month period. Incidentally, Monster.com has a list of companies that provide caregiver support benefits.
Developmental health and parenting support
Cambia Health Solutions, Inc. is now offering support to parents with young children by adding digital behavioral health company Cognoa's platform to its regional health plans. Cognoa provides "support to parents with common parenting challenges and the developmental health of their children, while also identifying children who are at risk for developmental delays, including autism."
As a means of parental support that kicks in after the more usual benefits covering pregnancy and infancy, the program—aimed at early childhood—"offers reliable guidance on day-to-day challenges and personalized resources that enable parents to assess, track, and positively impact their children's unique developmental growth," according to Cognoa.
Advertisement
Bringing babies to work
Since the U.S. is the only advanced country not guaranteeing paid maternity leave, it's not surprising that new mothers can have a tough time returning to work when confronted with the challenges of safe, affordable day care for a newborn. Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa addressed that problem, according to the Des Moines Register, by allowing infants at work. The new policy, just introduced in December, permits "new moms, dads and guardians to bring their infants into work full-time for up to six months or when the child begins to crawl—whichever milestone comes first."
Mother's rooms
Breastfeeding moms can retreat to mother's rooms (a.k.a. lactation rooms) at some companies, such as at The Penny Hoarder, according to 1 Million for Work Flexibility. There they can have privacy to pump breast milk as needed throughout the day, says Verywell Family, and depending on the company, have access to other important benefits such as a sink, a small refrigerator, a breast pump and a microwave.
Babysitters on business trips
Parents.com has looked into the whole family-friendly benefits thing, and points out that already Earth-friendly Patagonia is also family friendly, allowing parents who have to travel on business not only to bring along baby, but also a family member or a caregiver from the company's childcare center. And Patagonia will pay for it, to boot. Oh, and about that childcare center—company buses pick up the kids from local schools to bring them to the center for after-school care.
Egg freezing
Facebook may be suffering some reputational damage these days from its intrusive habits concerning members' data, but one thing it does that prospective parents likely approve of is to pay for egg freezing under a $20,000 benefit to cover fertility treatments. The company also kicks in with subsidies on childcare and even adoption fees.
Onsite summer camp
Yes, analytics software company SAS has an onsite camp at its headquarters offering everything from swim lessons to family campouts for its workers' kiddies. The company's North Carolina headquarters also offers a health care center and a recreation and fitness facility; its work/life center provides resources and counseling on topics like parenting teens.
Advertisement
Flex time
Diapers is one company that believes in being flexible with employees who need to arrange their work hours a little more conveniently around their kids. It also welcomes babies at meetings. The Penny Hoarder is another company that's flexible about working hours, whether it's because the sitter is late or the kid's soccer game is early—or you just need to work at home in your pajamas one day a week to recover from all those parenting obligations.
Help for college
Not just a scholarship program (offered by SAS) but also—at EY—college coaches that can help high school students with applications and tough decisions are among the means of assistance available to employees' kids. And although it's not common, Entrepreneur.com says that 13 percent of 510 HR professionals surveyed on the topic said that their organization provided educational scholarships to employees' kids.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
