Family-Friendly Workplace Tips
Are you ready to attract and retain strong, skilled employees?
Start by creating a family-friendly workplace. Studies show that employees miss fewer days of work and are more productive when they have access to affordable, high-quality early care and education services.
Supporting Employees
There are many creative ways to support employees with families, including:
- Connecting employees with information and resources about parenting, early childhood education options, or financial supports
- Providing mothers with a clean, private area to pump and store breast milk
- Implementing policies such as flexible work arrangements, paid family leave, or dependent care reimbursement plans
- Supporting a local early care childhood education program in exchange for priority enrollment/reduced fees for your employees
Family-Friendly Workplace Checklist
Use the list below to think about which options already exist at your business, potential options, and options with which thread could help.
Information & Resources
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Child Care Resource & Referral Services | Provide a list of child care options and programs in the community by zip code |
| Parenting Seminars | Host informational meetings/brown bag lunches on parenting issues and child care concerns |
| Family Fairs/Special Events | Promote seminars for child care and family development events |
| Employee Rideshare Co-op | A program for employees living in similar geographic areas to coordinate ride sharing to and from child care |
Employer Policies
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Dependent Care Reimbursement Plans | Provide an option for employees to receive pre-tax savings through a child care account |
| Flexible Work Arrangements | Compressed work week, flexible hours, telecommuting |
| Reduction of Work Time | Regular part-time, job sharing |
| Leave Benefits (Beyond FMLA) | Birth or adoption (maternity & paternity), family, funeral, medical, sick |
| Active Promotion of Benefits | Employees are aware of family friendly programs |
Direct Services/Support for Employees
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Near or On-site Child Care Center(s) | A center owned and operated by the company, or owned by the company and managed by a third party, primarily for the employees of the sponsoring company |
| Create or Support a Network of Home Child Care Facilities | Support in home care facilities to provide preferential slots to employees — particularly helpful to companies with employees working evenings or weekends |
| Create or Support Child Care Cooperative | Work with neighboring companies to create a child care co-op providing preference to co-op company employees |
Financial Support — Employers
| Options | Description |
|---|---|
| Vouchers | Pay a portion of child care expenses as part of employee benefit package |
| Discounts | Arrange for employees to be charged a reduced rate at programs of the employer’s choosing |
Financial Support — Community
| Options | Description |
|---|---|
| In Kind Contributions | Support a specific child care agency through the donation of surplus materials |
| Corporate Funds | A corporate set-aside for grants to local child care centers agreeing to provide access to employees (not philanthropic dollars) |
| Corporate Contributions | Fund organizations to generally improve the supply or quality of child care at the local, state, or national level |
| Support a Local Child Care Center | Through grant or contract, child care centers may accept funds from a company or a group of companies (as in a consortium arrangement) in exchange for priority enrollment/reduced fees for employees of the contributing companies |