With the increasing number employees turning down jobs because they stand in the way of their family responsibilities, businesses of all sizes have started to implement family-friendly policies to recruit and retain their best employees.
But these policies extend beyond the usual insurances, 401(k) matches, and dependent accounts. To stand out from the crowd, many companies are also offering the following benefits to their employees.
- Flextime. Flexible work options allow employees to arrange their own schedule in order to accommodate both their work life and family life.
- Paid family leave. Employers can offer a wide variety of paid family-related leaves to their employees, such as maternity or paternity leave and medical leave to take care of a sick family member.
- Child care assistance. Examples of this are onsite child caring facilities, payment of a portion of an employee’s day care fees, and partnering with day care centres in the area so that the employees’ children are given top priority.
- Lactation support. Some laws in the United States now provide break times and a private place to pump their breastmilk for lactating mothers at work. This lures some moms to go back to work sooner.
- Family bonding activities. These family events build a sense of community among co-workers and give employees extra time to spend with their families.
