For many job seekers, the most attractive positions are ones that promise an ideal work-life balance. Without balance, the work-related stress that employees experience can impact their physical and mental health. Work-life balance programs in the office allow employees flexibility to manage both work and personal responsibilities. This is especially important for working parents and those with family obligations.
According to Forbes, in 2019 55% of mothers in the workforce were employed full-time and 89% of fathers worked full-time jobs. With the majority of American parents working full-time, many struggle to manage work and family responsibilities. For parents, work-life balance is important when seeking sustainable employment, especially post-COVID.
Thankfully, employers can improve their family-friendly workplace policies to attract a wider range of potential employees.
Keep reading to learn more about family-friendly programs, their importance, and real-life examples of companies with family-friendly workplace policies.
The Impact of Family-Friendly Work Policies
Becoming a family-friendly company can have an incredibly beneficial impact on many aspects of your work environment. We’ll take a closer look at what it means to be a family-friendly company below.
What Does Family-Friendly Mean?
The University of Kansas defines a family-friendly workplace or employer as the following:
“A family-friendly workplace or employer is one whose policies make it possible for employees to more easily balance family and work, and to fulfill both their family and work obligations.”
A prime example of a family-friendly program is an office daycare. While on-site daycare is a growing workplace trend, only a handful of companies offer daycare at work. One drawback of offering this benefit for smaller companies is the cost.
Common examples of policies that family-friendly companies of any size utilize include:
- Telecommuting (remote work). This allows an employee to work off-site. Some employees can choose certain days to work remotely or choose a completely remote position.
- Flexible time off. This policy can apply to sick time or PTO and allows working parents to leave work for an afternoon or an entire day to care for their child(ren).
- Paid child care. For companies that can’t afford on-site child care, there are other ways they can invest in this type of support. Some child care policies include employee resources such as program referrals or reserved spots at child care facilities. Other companies may even pay for child care costs for their employees.
Why Family-Friendly Programs Matter
Since COVID-19 sent many workers home indefinitely, family-friendly programs have been more important than ever. After spending so much time around their family, employees are holding family time at an even higher value. Heading back into the office can hinder that time together, so implementing family-friendly workplace policies is essential.
There are various short- and long-term benefits that companies with family-friendly policies experience. Studies show that companies in the U.S. who switched certain policies, such as flexible schedule policies, saw higher motivation and productivity in the workplace.
Along with an increase in motivation and productivity, companies also see a higher retention rate of quality employees. After all, working parents who feel comfortable in their job are less likely to look for a new one.
Another area that these policies impact a company is recruiting. Creating a family-friendly employer brand can help you widen your talent pool.
As of 2019, 91.3% of families with children had at least one working parent. So, the chances are that an employer is likely to encounter the working parent demographic when hiring. To appeal to this demographic, employers must create an authentic family-friendly work environment through the right policies.
Determining the best policies for your company can seem challenging at first. How will you know if a certain policy is the best choice for your employees? The best approach to creating and implementing successful policies is through careful consideration. Don’t be afraid to ask your employees for feedback on how you can better support them.
In addition to examining your own work culture, take a look at what your competitors are doing. By looking at real companies with family-friendly work policies, you can learn how your company can improve.
To guide you in creating a family-friendly workplace, consider the following examples of successful companies with family-friend work policies.
Companies With Family-Friendly Work Policies
The following companies have taken the time to evaluate their policies and implement family-friendly workplace policies that greatly assist working parents.
USAA
The first on our list of companies with family-friendly work policies is USAA. As a financial services organization, USAA is dedicated to serving its members: the U.S. military’s men and women.
To ensure this family-friendly company’s success, USAA has numerous employee support initiatives, including a rigorous parental leave policy.
While many companies provide the standard maternity leave for new mothers, many companies don’t offer the same benefit to fathers. In 2017, USAA decided to change that and began offering birth parents, non-birth parents, and adoptive parents 12 weeks of paid time off instead of the previous 8-week policy. This time off allows the working parents at USAA to spend a bit more quality time with their children without worrying about saving up enough vacation time.
USAA also provides a daycare service for employees that not only oversees but educates children. Its facilities specialize in the care of infants, toddlers, and preschool/kindergarten prep.
GoDaddy
As one of the world’s largest domain registrars, GoDaddy is known for the special care it gives its customers. That same careful attention is also given to GoDaddy’s working parents through the company’s family-friendly policies.
All new parents at GoDaddy are offered 12 weeks of paid parental leave while birthing mothers receive an additional six weeks of recovery time. Employees at GoDaddy also benefit from generously subsidized child care and paid sick leave for parents caring for a child. Furthermore, GoDaddy offers adoption assistance and fertility coverage for those looking to start or grow their families.
Nursing mothers are provided with special benefits such as lactation rooms in their offices at GoDaddy.
Salesforce
Known for its innovative cloud software, Salesforce has pushed the boundaries of its industry for over 20 years. This family-friendly company has also changed what it means to be a great employer. In 2020, Fortune ranked Salesforce the sixth-best company to work for.
Salesforce is home to a respectful and open-minded company culture, where each employee is treated with care, which extends to the perks that Salesforce offers its employees.
Working parents at Salesforce benefit from family-friendly workplace policies such as telecommuting options, subsidized child care, and on-site medical care services. Additionally, the company offers employees up to 28 days of paid time off.
Salesforce has one of the most generous parental leave policies around. Offering up to 26 weeks of paid time off for new mothers, they provide plenty of time for you to bond with your new baby. Adoption and fertility assistance programs are also available for growing families.
As your child approaches their college years, Salesforce offers an exclusive college coaching program to help you and your child(ren) prepare for this next educational step. Gain access to recorded workshops and 1-1 counseling sessions with this family-friendly workplace policy.
Farmers Insurance
Making its way onto the 2021 Top Companies to Work for in Arizona list, Farmers Insurance® strives to foster a family-friendly workplace. The national insurer group is known for its homeowners, automobile, small business and other insurance and financial service products, in addition to its family-friendly and employee-centric policies.
Farmers® offers generous parental leave among other competitive employee benefits for eligible employees. For employees interested in growing their family through adoption, Farmers benefit offerings have also earned them recognition as an adoption-friendly employer. Farmers continues to prioritize cultivating a workplace that supports and empowers their people, including working parents.
Edward Jones
Edward Jones was ranked by working parents as one of the top companies that support families in the workplace. Leadership at Edward Jones is passionate about providing employees with rewarding and fair career opportunities and benefits.
The company is proud to support its employees with benefits such as flexible work schedules and a great parental leave policy. Edward Jones’ parental leave policy provides employees with 16 weeks of paid leave, which is available to new mothers, fathers, caregivers, and adoptive parents.
In addition to this wonderful parental leave policy, parents can enjoy on-site childcare and healthcare benefits for all dependents. Families looking to expand can also receive adoption benefits.
Deloitte
As one of LinkedIn’s Top Companies of 2021, it’s no surprise that Deloitte is a well-known family-friendly company. Employees can enjoy a long list of benefits and policies that make their days a little easier.
To start, Deloitte offers 16 weeks of paid family leave for every eligible employee to celebrate all that life has to offer, like a brand new baby. After this 16-week period, new parents have the opportunity to take an additional 10 weeks off at half-pay if they would like to.
On top of this paid leave, Deloitte allows for flexible schedules and provides a childcare benefit for all parents. At Deloitte, creating a family-friendly company culture is of utmost importance, a mindset clearly reflected in their workplace policies.
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