SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CAREERS / BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY : Making a Difference : Individual employees can make their workplace more family-friendly. Here are four who did it.

Although more and more companies are realizing they need to expand child care and family programs at the workplace, it is individual employees who often provide the catalyst for change. Here are three people who made a difference where they work.

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June Sale and Kit Kollenberg spent years entrenched at UCLA’s Childcare Services, which runs an on-campus day-care center for children of employees. In their jobs, Sale and Kollenberg constantly fielded questions about child-rearing from stressed-out parents.

After organizing numerous forums and “brown bag” seminars on the topic, they had another idea: Why not develop a newsletter to address these issues?

So they gathered UCLA experts in professions from medicine to education, scrutinized other newsletters for ideas, hired writer Ellen Melinkoff and won small grants from the California Community Foundation and McDonnell Douglas Corp., which wanted to provide the newsletter to its employees. Their first six-page publication was distributed in winter, 1990, at the aerospace company and UCLA. Total start-up cost: $5,000.

Tackling issues such as children’s nutrition, sleep requirements, the debate over pushing preschoolers to learn and how much TV is too much, Working Parents Newsletter was an immediate success.

Soon other companies wanted the newsletter for their employees. Corporations buy the newsletter from Sale and Kollenberg for a price that depends on their size; they are then authorized to photocopy and distribute it free to their employees. The newsletter is published in Spanish and English.

Today Sale and Kollenberg have 73 clients ranging from architectural firms to health maintenance organizations, accountants and child-care centers. Sale has a new career as a child-care consultant. Kollenberg remains outreach coordinator of Childcare Services at UCLA.

Capitalizing on the demand, Sale, Kollenberg and Melinkoff have also written “Working Parents Handbook,” which will be published in March, 1996, by Simon & Schuster. In it, they discuss how to set priorities and how to give children attention and still get work done at home.

“It’s consumer information: We reflect the issues they’re thinking about but not seeing in other publications,” Kollenberg says.

As a graduate student at UCLA, Betsy Bosak examined the link between women’s employment and childbearing decisions and found that availability of child care was a critical factor to juggling career and family.

Years later in 1988, as manager of employee communications at TRW Space & Electronics in Redondo Beach, she put her studies to work. Bosak volunteered for a company task force to look at child-care needs of TRW employees. The team spent nine months studying options and recommended an on-site center that would care for toddlers and infants.

The Launching Pad opened in 1991 on a one-acre site at TRW’s Redondo Beach headquarters and quickly enrolled 170 children. Soon it reached capacity at 204 children. Today there are 130 on the waiting list. The child-staff ratio runs from 1:3 for infants up to 1:12 for older children, and fees range from $470 to $672 per month per child, depending on age.

Bosak says the center has paid off for the company. Recruiters use it as a hiring incentive, and TRW says it generates a lot of favorable publicity. For instance, Working Woman magazine recently named TRW as one of the 100 best employers in America.

Bosak says on-site child care increases productivity by allowing new moms to return to the workplace sooner. Parents are also more willing to work overtime, she says, because the center is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“It’s the thing I’m most proud of,” says Bosak, who has since been promoted to director of Human Resources and HR Services. But, she adds, The Launching Pad would have never happened without the support of TRW management.

“You can find committed people,” she says, “but for it to work, you really have to have the general management committed as well.”

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One of the problems women with new infants face is how to breast-feed a child and still put in a full day at the office. At PacifiCare’s corporate offices in Cypress, Pat Erickson designed a solution after another employee made a well-timed suggestion.

Erickson, who is manager of employee services at the managed care organization, helped set up eight lactation rooms with equipment, refrigerators, comfortable chairs, screens and tables at which women can breast-feed children or pump breast milk for later feedings.

“We’re a highly female work force, and the demographics certainly tell us there’s a need there,” Erickson says by way of explaining why she went to bat for the lactation rooms.

They weren’t set up overnight. Erickson and a PacifiCare team spent three years studying how to address family-and-work issues before doing anything. At first, “all I was going to do was provide breast pumps in a room, but then I saw that one of most important components was education and one-on-one counseling for new mothers.”

PacifiCare now employs a pediatric nurse who specializes in lactation and counsels women before they go on maternity leave. The nurse also meets new mothers at the hospital to discuss breast-feeding. In addition, there is a 24-hour on-call service to answer questions.

Erickson says the benefit is paying off triple what it costs. An internal study showed that productivity went up after the lactation rooms were installed.

Actually, lactation rooms are just part of a much larger family care program that PacifiCare employees enjoy. There is an on-site child-care center offering a kindergarten as well as all-day child care.

“It’s definitely helping to keep new moms in the workplace,” Erickson says. “And when the mom is absent less, its a win for employers. There’s less absenteeism because there are fewer problems.”

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GUIDE TO FAMILY-FRIENDLY BENEFITS While the job picture in Southern California has been bleak in recent years, at least one bright spot is emerging: Workers in the five-county area enjoy good benefits. “Broadly speaking, companies in California tend to be a little more progressive, more willing to try new things,” said Chris Wadley, a vice president with the benefits consulting firm of Godwins Booke & Dickenson in Universal City. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for the birth or adoption of a child or to care for sick family members. California law ensures that women can take another four months of unpaid maternity leave. The state also provides mothers with partial disability payments, typically for six to eight weeks. In our survey, we found employers offering substantially more. Here’s how family-friendly benefits stack up among the largest employers in the five-county area:

Glossary:

Compressed workweek--For example, employee works four 10-hour days per week instead of five eight-hour days. Under another common arrangement, employee works 80 hours over nine working days, taking every other Friday off.

Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP)--Optional program whereby employees can set aside up to $5,000 in pretax income per year to pay for care of dependents, such as children or elderly parents.

Telecommuting--Employee works from home or in a satellite office close to home.

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CATEGORIES: MPL (maternity-paternity Leave), CC (child-care), EC (elder care), FL (family leave, to care for sick relatives), FT (flex time), O (other benefits)

* American Stores: MPL--State disability pay only. Women can take six months of unpaid leave for birth. CC--No specific program. EC--Referrals. FL--FMLA. FT--Most employees work part time and hours are flexible. O--None.

* BankAmerica: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--Referrals, DCAP and general advice on child rearing. Discounts with some providers. EC--Referrals and DCAP. Assistance with Medicare. FL--Sick time can be used to care for family members. Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave can be taken to care for spouse, child, parents, grandparents, in-laws or significant others. FT--Flex time, telecommuting, compressed workweeks and job sharing. O--Comprehensive adoption assistance, including $2,000 reimbursement for legal costs of adoption.

* California State Universities: MPL--FMLA. Partial pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--On-site child care at some CSU campuses. DCAP. EC--May prepay for coverage of nursing home costs for self, spouse, parents or in-laws. DCAP. FL--Can take fully paid sick days to care for family members. FMLA. FT--Telecommuting and flex time. O--Can get rebates on medical and dental insurance if covered by spouse’s plan. Employees can take 2 classes per semester free of charge.

* City of Los Angeles: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Twelve days of paid leave can be used to care for new child. CC--Three on-site child-care centers. Referrals and DCAP; 10% discount at some private chains. EC--Referrals and DCAP. FL--Up to 12 days of sick leave at full or partial pay to care for relatives, plus four months of unpaid leave. FT--Compressed workweeks. Telecommuting starts later this year. O--Department of Water and Power has lactation rooms for nursing mothers. Breast pumps can be checked out for use on the road.

* Kaiser Permanente: MPL--10 weeks of fully paid medical leave for mother. CC--Referrals for day-care, private and public schools, camps and tutors. DCAP. EC--Referrals and DCAP. FL--FMLA. FT--Telecommuting and compressed workweeks. O--Quarterly newsletter on family issues. Workshops on child development. Breast-feeding classes, some lactation rooms.

* Los Angeles County: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. If full-paid sick days run out, mother receives partial pay. CC--Six on-site child-care centers. Discounts with three private providers. EC--Referrals. FT--Extensive use of compressed workweeks and telecommuting. FL--FMLA. O--Single parents can purchase formal benefits such as medical, dental and life insurance at slightly cheaper rates than married parents.

* Los Angeles Unified School District: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Parents can take unpaid child-care leave until child turns 3. CC--More than 90 child-care centers available to children of employees. EC--Referrals. FL--Seven days of paid leave to care for sick family members. FT--Compressed workweeks. O--None.

* McDonnell Douglas: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. If full-paid sick days run out, mother receives partial pay. CC--Annual child-care fair. Referrals. EC--Annual elder-care fair. Referrals. FL--FMLA. FT--Compressed workweeks and telecommuting. O--Leave of absence or part-time schedule for an employee seeking an advanced degree.

* Northrop Grumman: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Mother and father can take up to four months of unpaid family leave. CC--Referrals and DCAP. Periodic seminars on parenting. EC--No program. FL--Up to four months of unpaid leave per year to care for sick family members; paid sick leave can also be used. FT--Flex time. O--None.

* Orange County: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. If sick leave runs out, mother receives partial pay. Parents can also take up to six months of unpaid leave for birth. CC--DCAP. EC--DCAP. FL--Up to three days of sick leave can be used to care for family members, per illness. FT--Job sharing, flexible schedules, compressed workweeks and telecommuting. O--Brown bag lunch series on issues of interest to working parents.

* Pacific Telesis: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Mother and father can take up to 12 months of unpaid leave in a two-year period to care for newborns. Information about prenatal care. CC--Company spent $450,000 to help schools start and expand before- and after-school programs. Referrals and DCAP. EC--Referrals and DCAP. Toll-free number for advice. FL--Up to 12 months of unpaid leave can be taken in a two-year period to care for family members. FT--Telecommuting encouraged. O--$2,000 reimbursement for adoption.

* Rockwell International: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Mother and father can take 16 weeks of unpaid leave for birth or adoption. CC--Referrals and discounts. EC--Resource library and referral service. FL--FMLA. FT--Flex time, telecommuting and compressed workweeks. O--Lunchtime seminars on parenting. On-site dry cleaning, shoe repair, pharmacy delivery.

* San Bernardino County: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--Discount child-care center. Referrals and DCAP. EC--Referrals and DCAP. FL--At least 24 hours of paid sick leave can be used to care for family members. FT--Compressed workweeks and telecommuting widely used. O--None.

* Sears Roebuck: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Mother and father can take up to one year of unpaid family leave. CC--No program. EC--Long-term care policies can be purchased for parents, grandparents, in-laws and godparents. Referrals. FL--Up to one year of unpaid leave to care for family members. FT--Most California employees work part time, allowing for flexible scheduling. O--Low-cost education loans for employees and dependents; 10% discount on Sears merchandise.

* Southern California Edison: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. Mom and dad can take up to one year of unpaid leave for birth or adoption. CC--24-hour referrals; parenting programs offered. EC--Private company handles referrals and provides advice 24 hours a day. FL--Can take off two days with pay per sickness to care for family members. FMLA. FT--Flex time, compressed work weeks and telecommuting available at five satellite offices. O--Employees can donate paid sick leave to each other. Breastfeeding classes and lactation rooms for mothers.

* TRW: MPL--Full pay for mothers while medically disabled. CC--On-site child-care at Redondo Beach facility. Referrals and DCAP. EC--Resource and referral program. Seminar series on elder care. DCAP. FL--Paid sick days can be used to care for family members. Nearby hospitals care for sick children while parents work. FT--Flex time, compressed workweeks, job sharing and telecommuting. O--Brown bag sessions on family issues.

* UCLA: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--On-campus child-care. Referrals and DCAP offered. EC--Counseling and referral services. FL--Paid sick leave can be used to care for family members. FT--Compressed workweeks and telecommuting encouraged. O--Newsletter for working parents on balancing work and family.

* USC: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--Six child-care centers. Referrals. Counseling center offers parenting classes. EC--School of Gerontology offers weekly classes on caring for aging parents. Referrals. FL--FMLA. FT--Flex time, telecommuting and job sharing. O--Full tuition reimbursement for employees and their children.

* U.S. government: MPL--Full pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--Referrals and some on-site centers. EC--Referrals. FL--Five to 13 days of paid sick leave can be used to care for family members. FT--Telecommuting and compressed workweeks. O--Employees can donate paid leave to each other.

* Walt Disney Co.: MPL--Full or partial pay for mother while medically disabled. CC--DCAP. EC--DCAP. FL--FMLA. FT--Telecommuting available on case-by-case basis. O--Offers health benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees.

Family Friendlier

As more employees find themselves juggling the responsibilities of work and family, more employers are offering benefits to help them in their mission. Below, the percentage of employers offering the following benefits to their salaried employees, based on a survey of more than 1,000 major U.S. companies:

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Benefit 1990 1995 Child-Care Assistance 64% 85% Elder-Care Programs * 26% Flexible Scheduling 54% 67% Adoption Benefits 12% 23% Employee Assistance Programs 73% 84%

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* Not available.

Source: Hewitt Associates