FULFILLING FAMILY NEEDS : More Firms Adjust for Workers’ Personal Lives
America’s largest companies, which had virtually no family leave policies 20 years ago, are devoting more effort and resources than ever before to easing the burden of meshing work and family, according to a comprehensive new study that for the first time ranks companies based on an index of “family friendliness.”
The Corporate Reference Guide to Work-Family Programs, a study conducted by the New York-based Families & Work Institute research group, examines the policies of Fortune 1,000 companies spanning 30 industries.
Among the findings was a dramatic increase in employer-supported child care. According to the study released Thursday, only 600 firms in the country had some such form of child care in 1982, compared to 5,600 in 1990.
The report identifies the most family-friendly large companies as Aetna Life & Casualty Co., Corning Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and Johnson & Johnson--firms that go far beyond the minimal six-week maternity leave that used to be the corporate norm.
The report cited five California firms--First Interstate, Atlantic Richfield, Wells Fargo, Apple Computer and Bank of America--as among those with expansive programs.
The institute’s report said all the companies studied allow women medical leave for problems after childbirth. However, more than three-quarters of the responding firms have expanded their programs in recent years by providing employees financial support or leaves to care for children, parents and spouses.
The report comes one day after the House approved a bill requiring employers to grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to workers to care for a newborn baby, a newly adopted child, a sick child or close family member. A Senate version was passed last month.
President Bush is expected to veto the family and medical leave bill as he did a similar bill last year. It is not clear whether Congress will be able to override the veto. But both proponents and opponents of the bill are expected to use parts of the new study to support their arguments.
Based on the responses of 188 firms, the study found, for example, that 88% of the companies offer part-time work, 13% provide child care centers, and 22% provide family and child care leave policies to mothers, fathers and adoptive parents.
Also, 55% of those surveyed help parents find child care, and 50% help pay for child care. In addition, programs allowing employees time to care for the elderly are being expanded, the report said. Although small firms were not included in the report, the institute said they generally lag behind their larger counterparts.
“Companies are adopting programs for reasons related to productivity,” said Ellen Galinsky, co-president of the Families & Work Institute. “An employee may not be an effective worker if he or she is worried about child care. “
Companies are also responding to changing demographics, she added. About 60% of employed men have working wives, the report said. And by the end of the century, about two-thirds of the new workers entering the work force will be women, according to some studies.
The primary innovation of the study, which took three years, is a ranking index that covers seven categories--flexible work arrangements, leaves, financial assistance, philanthropy, dependent care services, management change and stress management.
IBM has been adopting such programs partly because it wants to attract top-notch employees, said William J. Colucci, the company’s vice president for U.S. personnel.
“The best companies aren’t going to distinguish themselves by salary and benefits alone,” Colucci said.
The companies included in the institute’s study all employed more than 1,000 workers.
Of the 4,000 small firms--with 50 to 100 employees--in four states that responded to an institute study earlier this year, only 25% had written policies allowing post-birth child care leave. That survey did not include California, which last month enacted legislation requiring major employers to give workers up to four months of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child or to care for seriously ill family members.
MAKE ROOM FOR FAMILY
“Until the late 1980s, it was a novel idea that employers would or should provide assistance to employees in balancing work and home life responsibilities. Work and family were seen as separate, nonoverlapping worlds . . . “
Growth of Employer-Supported Child Care
Year Number of Companies 1982 600 1984 1,500 1986 2,500 1988 3,300 1990 5,600
Obstacles to Work-Familiy Initiatives
Of the 188 companies surveyed, these were the No. 1 concerns about initiating policies to mesh work and family.
Reason Number of Companies Citing Anticipated Costs 70 Lack of Information on Needs 23 Equity Issues 22 No Evidence of Long-term Benefits 21 Liability Issues 9 Little Top Management Support 6 Work and Family Seen as Separate Domains 6 Lack of Information on Options 3 Other Reasons 8 No Obstacles 6
Reasons for Work-Family Initiatives
Of the 188 companies surveyed, these were the No. 1 for initiating policies to mesh work and family.
Reason Number of Companies Citing Improve Morale 35 Use as a Recruiting Tool 32 Improve Retention 26 Reduce Stress 19 Keep Up With Other Firms 15 Cut Absenteeism 8 Improve Public Relations 3 Other 5
Source: Families and Work Institute
