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MYTH 5
We're too small and understaffed.
You don't need a mature organization with a full-fledged personnel department to run a program. For example, resource and referral plans are well within the grasp of most small companies. You can contract for the service or work with church and community leaders to compile a list of your own.
Any of the reimbursement options can be easily handled by a staff accountant, or contracted out to a bookkeeping firm. One such option enables employees to pay for child care with pretax dollars. "It's so easy to set up," says Ferchland. "You just get the IRS to bless it, and then attach it to your accounting and paperwork function."
Flexible work schedules, which are a major help to parents, are already offered by many companies as part of their general workstyle. Parental-leave policies may require a bit of fancy footwork, but they too prove manageable even in start-up companies. In fact, many companies find that flexible scheduling allows them to expand their business day, and companies that institute job-sharing programs enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that each shared position has its own back-up in the event of illness or attrition.
Although few small companies want to go this far, even running a child-care center may not be out of the question. Oliver Wight Cos. built child-care space into its new building when it outgrew its facilities (in the president's house) seven years ago. Today the center serves 11 children from seven families.
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MYTH 6
Liability exposure is too big a risk for us.
There has not been a successful liability case against a corporate-sponsored child-care center, as far as can be determined. And, according to sources at San Francisco's Child Care Law Center, there is virtually no liability exposure in corporate subsidy of employees' child-care costs.
A company can provide some protection for its assets by establishing a separate division to operate an on-site center and by subcontracting for referral services. Above all, be sure you get some insurance -- it's cheaper and easier to obtain than you might think.
Insurance carriers are generally willing to write policies that cover corporate child-care centers. The cost? At $2,000 to $7,000 per year for an enrollment of approximately 30 children, most companies find the premiums reasonable. Another insurance break comes by way of an Austin firm, Human Services Risk Managment, that offers a course in liability loss control. Several insurers provide incentives to companies that complete this training.
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MYTH 7
It's not fair to employees without children.
Surprisingly, consultants say they've encountered few examples of resistance from employees without children to corporate child-care assistance programs. Studies report that nonparents show little or no resentment about their employers' child-care programs.
Still, keep in mind that no employee benefit is going to be universally equitable, and that corporate child-care assistance will help reduce absenteeism, turnover, and recruitment problems -- all of which burden nonparent employees from time to time.
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Ellen Wojahn is a Boston-based writer. Her most recent book is Playing by Different Rules (Amacom), about the failed merger of Parker Brothers and General Mills.
PERKINS GEDDIS EASTMAN
THE FLEXTIME STRATEGY
Revenues: $5 million
Employees: 50
Employees affected: 12
Annual cost: NA
Start-up cost: NA
Money isn't the issue. The architects, interior designers, and staff at Perkins Geddis Eastman, in New York City, can afford to buy quality child care, if they want it. No, what the parents in this 50-employee firm want is time to provide their own child care. That's why the firm offers both male and female parental leaves, followed up with a flexible work policy that allows them to work one or two days a week at home, just to ease the transition.
The policy was established when the firm was launched in 1982, a year before any babies came on the scene. "We were looking for stability," recalls partner Barbara Geddis. "We know how demanding the profession can be. The typical attitude in this business is, 'Having a baby? Well, come back in three years when you're done." ' Geddis and her partners thought it important to do what they could from the start to hang onto their senior employees and let them use their time more flexibly for both work and child rearing. "We believe that, ideally, a person with a child should be a parent," Geddis says.
The first three employees to take advantage of the flexible workweek were men. All three took unpaid, three-week paternity leaves and, for about a year after that, worked out of their homes at will. As women began starting families, the policy was modified to allow for longer leaves. "We've found women seem to need more time off, at least in the beginning," explains Geddis. "Probably six months totally off, and a year after that in some sort of flex."
The evolution continues. "Now, as the kids get to be two, three years old, and new people start families, we see people wanting their flexibility in different ways," Geddis explains. "They want flexible hours instead of days, and they want to know they can bring the child to work if they need to."
Geddis admits that accommodation has had its consequences. A few clients, for example, have been momentarily irritated to find that their architect is at home with the baby. It can be inconvenient for co-workers, too, who sometimes have to take up the slack in order to get work out on time.
"The people who have chosen the three- or four-day option effectively put their careers -- well, not on hold, because their careers didn't stand still, but they certainly froze their responsibilities," says Geddis. "That was acknowledged ahead of time, and it's had some impact on salary negotiations." But there have been no gripes. "Most of these people are '80s couples with mutual commitments. They're doing what they want, and they're accepting the consequences."
