ORANGE : Firm Cited for Aid to Working Parents

Without realizing it, peer pressure had caused corporate vice president Eric Schmitt to build unrealistic expectations for his children.

“The people I associate with don’t ask, ‘Did your son do a nice picture the other day?’ They talk about, ‘How’s he doing in school? Is he getting all A’s?’ ”

A psychologist’s lecture made Schmitt realize he had fallen into a trap common to professional parents--expecting children to be miniature adults. Moreover, he was passing on the stress to his child.

Significantly, Schmitt--and dozens of other employees of Bergen Brunswig Corp., the Orange-based pharmaceutical company--heard the advice at a company-sponsored seminar during their lunch hour.

A pioneer in an emerging movement to create “family-friendly workplaces,” Bergen Brunswig provides nearly every known benefit to working parents. In addition to the monthly parenting seminars, the company offers newsletters to employees on such parenting topics as discipline and child development, a “brag board” to display family photos, partly subsidized child care spaces at the nearby Crystal Cathedral, and cafeteria-style benefits so employees may choose elder care instead, if that suits their needs. They may also choose from among flextime, job sharing, telecommuting, and alternate work schedules such as 10-hour, four-day workweeks. Tuesday, the firm received the Business Family Advocate award from the Child Abuse Council of Orange County.

“No other generation (of parents) has experienced the obstacles and pressures of this generation,” said Connie Olsen, chair of the Child Abuse Council. “Bergen Brunswig is probably the leader in dealing with these issues.”

Most deviant behavior stems from family life, she said. In the past, the council tried to reach parents through schools and libraries. But due to the increased number of working parents, the best avenue is now the workplace, she said.

Bergen Brunswig, one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and videocassettes, has 3,500 employees nationwide, with 600 in its Orange headquarters.

The fact that Bergen Brunswig is controlled by brothers Emil and Robert Martini accounts partly for the attention to family matters, Vice President Jack Fay said. Despite the size of the company, the Martinis try to maintain a family atmosphere in the workplace, Fay said.

The benefits are also a valuable tool in recruiting employees, he said.

“A business of any size needs to face the fact that working mothers in particular . . . have a problem in terms of managing family life and work life. We would be denying ourselves access to talented people if we didn’t try to accommodate their needs.”

Schmitt said he has found the information in parenting seminars applies to his family, although his wife stays home with their three children.

“Raising kids today is a real tough job with all pressure out there,” he said.

“Managing my kids and trying to do what’s right in teaching them proper values is a lot tougher job than what I do at work.”