A Look at Leading Workforce Supports for National Working Parents Day

Sunday, Sept. 16 is National Working Parents Day - a day to celebrate those who balance both providing for, and raising the next generation.

Panorama has been working toward business-led solutions for working families over the past two years. Our efforts are founded in the belief that when each person has an opportunity to make an equal contribution – regardless of gender, race, or economic standing – we all live more productive lives. There are many ways that U.S. companies have been able to create innovative solutions to help bridge the gap. Here’s our top five list for this Working Parents Day:

Flextime: Flex-time offers workers the ability to create periods of work without interruption while being able to take care of non-work commitments. BambooHR offers what they call an ‘anti-workaholic’ policy for their team along these lines. They note that the policy allows for those precious moments that don’t come around often – like a ballet recital, as well as accommodating demanding and shifting schedules.

Paid Family and Medical Leave: Over the past few years, there has been a heavy increase in companies adopting and expanding paid leave policies. Across a variety of industry and for a number of reason, these businesses see that they can better attract talent, curb attrition rates, and increase engagement. Spotify has a leading policy, offering six months of paid leave plus one month for flex schedule as parents return to the office.

Childcare: Childcare today can cost more than instate tuition in many places, and access and quality are challenging as well. As companies respond to the needs of their workers, some have taken the charge even beyond backup-care, on-site facilities, and subsidies. We are now seeing ‘infants at work’ policies – these allow employees to bring their newborns to work, and have been implemented by around 200 organizations. Among them, Badger Balm who offers parents the opportunity to bring infants into work up to the age of six months or until they can crawl, whichever comes first.

Lactation Support: Beyond making space for and ensuring a culture where nursing moms feel supported, like we do at Panorama, companies are working hard to find new ways to support the specific challenges that face new moms. Zillow has stepped up their lactation support to include covering the costs of shipping breast milk, for those moms who have to travel.

Concierge Services: Looking to recruit some new talent into your office? Companies are considering concierge services as one way to ensure employees have support when managing the pull of work life balance. Ad agency BVK has found that by offering a concierge service to their employees, the lives of their employees are simplified, and therefore allows for more engaged and productive employees.

We hope you’ll join us in saying thank you to the many working parents who have taken on a variety of competing priorities to raise the next generation –with that in mind, make this day an important occasion by highlighting the workplace supports you offer.