What Companies Are Doing to Support Their Employees and Families?

Supporting the employees and families of a company is the foundation of future success. It’s important to keep the team motivated, healthy, and fighting fit. While some companies may not be able to offer more paid vacation days. They are making other resources available so that employees will feel more refreshed, less stressed, and happier at work. It’s easy to see that when everyone is cared for, it benefits the company as a whole. Happiness is not something you feel; it’s something you show, too.

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Try these 14 signs that your company supports its employees and families:

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1. Employees get laid off or fired on days that don’t have a holiday. “There are holidays with no employees” is a common joke in corporate America, but not a very pleasant one. There are downsides to having employees work on weekends and nights. Plus, when the holidays roll around and workers have time off. They usually just want to relax and not think about work at all.

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1. Your company provides paid sick days. Many companies don’t give their workers paid sick days. And they’re not completely off the hook when someone gets sick. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 40 percent of all adults and 80 percent of children don’t get the recommended amount of yearly physical activity. This is about 60 minutes per day for children ages five to 17 and 150 minutes weekly for adults.

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1. Your company gives employees time off for tutoring or special education help for their children. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a survey by the U.S. Department of Education found that 4.2 million children in 2008 were not receiving special education services. Also, even though local educational agencies had identified them as needing the services.

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1. Employees get paid time off for jury duty or volunteering. Businesses that keep their employees happy and committed to the company are more likely to maintain a high-performance level and boost revenue growth.

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1. Employees have time for volunteer work. Although it may not be possible for the company to give employees paid time off to volunteer. Many offer opportunities for their workers to dedicate their time off to do some good.

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1. Employees can take a vacation during different times of the year. Organizations that allow their employees to dictate vacation schedules can increase employee satisfaction. As workers will be more willing and able to work harder (and longer) when they know they can also afford to relax and enjoy some downtime.

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1. Employees get paid sick days and family leave. It is regardless of whether they have worked there very long or have a full-time job with other benefits. Full-time employees in the U.S. get 12 weeks off from work within the first year of employment, and 2 weeks before their pregnancy leave is up. For family leave, new mothers can take up to 6 weeks off to recover from childbirth. And also, bond with their babies after birth. Then, fathers get 6 weeks of paid parental leave to bond with their newborns.

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1. Employees get time off to care for aging or ill parents and relatives in need. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 74 percent of employees surveyed by Cornell University said they sometimes are nervous about asking for time off when a family member falls ill. It is because they’re afraid it will negatively affect their job performance or interfere with other responsibilities.

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1. The company reimburses employees for tuition. And also, academic materials to help them further their careers. If a company offers tuition reimbursement. It must provide in its employee handbook that it will reimburse the reasonable costs of tuition and academic materials.

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1. Employees are allowed to take “Spring Break” during a different time of the year, such as around the holidays. Spring break was originally an informal and unofficial vacation for high school or college students in the spring. But some companies have adopted this as a term for their paid time off during different times of the year.

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1. Employees are allowed to work from home to care for a sick child or family member. Studies show that children who have access to paid family leave are less likely to be placed in foster care than children whose parents can’t afford the time off work.

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1. Employees have time built into their schedule for community service or charitable contributions. Workers who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to stay with the company and deliver high-performance levels.

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1. Employees get paid time off during natural disasters. It is so they can repair their homes, check on their families, or look out for property damage around them. This increases employee morale and loyalty.

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1. Employees receive paid time off in the event of a death in the family. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One-third of U.S. workers don’t have paid family leave through their employers. In 2013, President Barack Obama enacted an executive order guaranteeing federal employees up to 12 weeks’ leave for those who have recently experienced a death in the family or face serious health issues themselves.

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Think About What You Can Do

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Take a second and think about what you would do if you could not work for an extended period. Or would no longer be with your company for whatever reason. Would you have time to spend with your family or would you need to quit your job? If that was the case, what would happen? Would someone else cover for you? Would you still get paid or would you be on-call for work even though you were not able to attend?

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While some companies are becoming more accommodating in these areas. Many others are not. Co-workers and supervisors should also be made aware of a death in the family within the organization or if a coworker has an extended illness. The options of taking time off at a later date with payments and whether or not the company will take over other responsibilities of a co-worker on leave is another factor to consider before taking any action.

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Regardless of company extent, most companies provision their employees and families in one way or another. Check out this list of some companies that are doing an excellent job of supporting their teams.

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Virtually every company is family-friendly, but some are executing it better than others. These companies show that not only can you be a great employee and have a healthy family life, but that the two can go hand in hand.

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Check out the following list of companies that are doing an excellent job of supporting their teams:

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AOL and Huffington Post Media Group

These companies offer new parents paid six weeks to bond with a new baby. If your baby is born in-house, you can even bring them home from the hospital in parent company-branded gear.

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Apple, Inc.

The tech giant’s Women@Apple program enables mothers and female employees to take 18 weeks of maternity leave at 100 percent pay.

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Bank of America

Employee surveys show that employees who return to work for Bank of America are more likely to report positive things about the workplace and stay longer than employees who quit. The bank encourages employees to take time off if necessary, but will also help them find a replacement so they have a chance to continue working.

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Cadbury Adams Group

The company offers its employees primary care doctors, wellness coaches, health educators, and a wide variety of other programs that keep their teams healthier and happier.

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When we talk about Businesses can offer a variety of childcare solutions including franchise “in-house” daycare centers, on-site or near-site mom and pop daycare providers, and home daycare providers.

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Coronavirus pandemic highlights just how essential childcare is to the national workforce.

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Corporations often offer a variety of aid and benefits to their employees which can range from health care to financial assistance programs, research shows.

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The idea behind these benefits is to provide the best working environment with support in areas that are essential to each employee at their specific stage in life. The responsibility of managing these valuable benefits falls on the shoulders of Human Resource professionals and benefits consultants.

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Many companies offer retirement benefits to their employees. There are many different types of retirement packages that companies can accommodate, such as 401(k) plans and defined benefit plans. Here is the breakdown of retirement benefits in the corporate world:

The concept of a “work-life balance” is a huge issue for most working moms and dads. From an employer standpoint, there are several ways to support employees who need to juggle work and family responsibilities. Some common practices include:

Retirement benefits shouldn’t be the only factors considered when determining how to support employees who are trying to juggle work and family. Other costs can affect employees, such as childcare. A recent study conducted by the Families and Work Institute showed that overall costs of childcare are rising at an alarming rate.

In 2011, the overall cost of childcare in the US amounted to $13 billion per year. Almost every employee with children works in an industry that is affected by these rising costs such as childcare, healthcare, and higher education.

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The Costs of Childcare

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The cost of childcare has been on the rise for some time now due to a variety of factors such as:

Changes in the economy Inflation Wages Not enough leave policies

Since 2008 the cost of childcare has increased five percent year over year. This is even though wages have increased by about two percent during this same period.

In the labor force today there are approximately 1.6 million working women who are working outside the home, but still expect their employers to provide childcare.

This study shows that one-fifth of American mothers who work full-time for pay take a reduced amount of leave for childcare. Almost one in four childcare workers does not take paid leave when they have a child at home.

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How Can Employers Help?

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One way that companies can help address the issues surrounding childcare is by offering a week of vacation in exchange for a week of paid leave. In this way, there will be more time on the job, but not less pay over time.

It seems like childcare is becoming increasingly expensive for many people, but it doesn’t have to be. There are several ways that companies can relieve some stress from parents who work.

One idea is to have an on-site childcare service available. This way employees can drop their children off in the morning before they go to work. Thus, they will be able to pick them up at a scheduled time after work.

The cost of childcare can be outrageous, so companies need to offer varying payment options such as scholarships and financial aid.

Another option that employers have implemented is telecommuting—allowing workers to work remotely. In many cases, this can be an effective way for employees to manage their work and family life.

Having an on-site childcare service can help entire teams with the issue of childcare. Employees can take a break to attend a parent-teacher conference or have time with their child at the end of the day.

But when it comes down to it, the decision is often up to the employee.

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How Can Employers Help our families?

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One of the most important things that employers can do to help our families is to help us prepare for retirement.

One of the best ways that employers can provide support in this area is by offering options such as workplace pension plans, retirement funds, and other financial benefits. Increasingly, people are realizing they need a financial plan for their families because the cost of living continues to increase at a rate that exceeds wage growth.

Companies that support their employees with benefits like workplace pensions or financial planning options are doing a great job of preparing them for the future.

Pension plans that are offered to employees such as those offered by companies can help our families be prepared for a variety of situations, such as:

Longevity and mortality rates

Increase in life costs (health insurance, long-term care costs, etc.)

Economic recession

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Even though it’s still a relatively new trend, more and more companies have been offering some form of financial assistance to their employees.