Welcome to the Middlesex County website for Family
Friendly Workplace programs. The site is an initiative of the Workforce
Investment Board’s Barriers to Work Committee. The WIB (http://co.middlesex.nj.us/)
is a public/private partnership, formed through the Workforce Investment
Act of 1998. The board enables the workforce to be demand-driven while
still helping meet the needs of employers and workers.
In a June 21, 2006, Miami Herald article, “Perfect
perks help small firms keep hires,” Cindy Krischer Goodman wrote:
“Attracting and keeping good people is a hot-button issue these
days. Yet, many small businesses worry they can’t compete with
the big-ticket perks offered by corporate America. Karol Rose, author
of Work-Life Effectiveness, points out that the benefits employees
want don’t have to cost a lot. Her advice: Pursue the benefits
your employees value. If your workforce is young, don’t bother
with life insurance. If your workforce is older, no need to offer parental
leave. And if it’s mixed, ask employees what they want and use
some creativity. Of all the benefits employees cite why they like their
jobs, no perk appears as consistently as flexibility. It’s a low-cost
work/life benefit most small businesses fail to tout.”
What is a Family Friendly Employer?
These are employers who may provide any combination, formally or informally,
of the benefits listed below to their employees. There are a wide range
that, when packaged together, can really make a difference in a working
parent’s life and workers’ productivity, attendance and retention.
Below is a partial list of benefits that are starting to emerge as standard
corporate offerings:
* Schedule Flexibility: flextime, part-time, job sharing,
compressed workweeks – these are all ways to ease the schedule
conflicts that parents/care givers face.
* Telecommuting: whether it is an everyday arrangement,
available on an as-needed basis, or somewhere in between, many employers
see telecommuting as a way to provide another form of flexibility to
workers.
* Child Care Programs: companies are supporting essential
child care through financial assistance programs, on-site or off-site
daycare, after-school and summer programs, as well as sick and emergency
child care programs that allow parents to have one less thing to worry
about in their day.
* Maternity/Paternity Leave Policy: the standard six
weeks is being stretched out to accommodate parents who want to be home
with their infants, and companies are extending the benefit to dads,
too. It’s not uncommon to find this type of leave policy extended
to adoption and eldercare as well.
* Wellness Programs: it is no mystery that a happy,
healthy employee is much more productive than a stressed-out, sick one.
Companies are now providing fitness centers, yoga classes, massages,
and health-oriented workshops and seminars on everything from managing
stress to feng shui.
* Work/Life Programs: pet-care, dry cleaning, psychologists,
referral services – all of these extras are designed to assist
employees with everyday tasks that can add up.
Being family-friendly is one of the best investments
an employer can make. It can help you to recruit and keep top workers,
improve productivity, and increase employee motivation and loyalty.
Family-Friendly policies are also a wise investment in community relations.
They can help make your company be a recognized "community citizen,"
and that can be a valuable asset in business.
Family Medical Leave Act Information: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/
NJ Division of Disability Services: http://state.nj.us/humanservices/disability.html
