Parent friendly workplaces

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly do you mean by “parent friendly”? Have you looked at the Washingtonian magazine’s Best Places to Work issues?

I mostly mean being able to take time off when infants/toddlers are sick and daycare makes me pick them up and I have to use sick time. Also, being able to take them to doctors appointments and being able to use sick time or flex time. I've worked places before whereas long as I put my time in and work got done, I would never be hurt by taking time off. So it's not remote work that I care about (I'm hybrid), it's about realizing that kid things came up and the employer being flexible. This new organization is not like that at all for others and it's not even a for-profit company.

How many days a week you can telework with the hybrid schedule?

Two days. But if childcare is canceled, you need to take care of your child. My former coworker who is a mother of a five year old and a three year old was told she takes too much time off during her PIP meeting before being let go.

How good was she otherwise?

This is a tricky thing because taking time off is easily quantifiable and documentable, so it is often a catch all for performance issues. From what I’ve seen, stellar performers at a private company where I work are accommodated with respect to childcare issues.

NP here. Well sure, stellar performers get more grace because they still get things done even if they are offline for a period of time during the work day for childcare needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not .gov

Not as long as the Repukes are in power.

[Anonymous]

A lot of nonprofits are actually not family friendly at all despite the policies they advocate for. Their are short on resources and also act self important about their work.

Pre-DOGE I would have said govt but honestly even big companies are often more flexible than nonprofits.

I would focus on tangible things like how many days WFH you get, # of sick days separate from vacation days, etc. Culture is harder to suss out unless you know someone who works there. But just bringing up your kids in later stage interviews and seeing the reaction you get is telling. A lot will depend on your own manager too and whether that person has kids (mine has kids and his wife works FT so he fully gets the juggle, sometimes takes calls from his car on the way to kid appts, etc.).

[Anonymous]

I work for a state U and it has very good work life balance.

[Anonymous]

Dont get lulled by family friendly with low leave accrual places OP. I TW FT but dont accrue significant leave and if your kids are sick frequently or they dont have a separate paid maternity policy or during days like this one tomorrow where in theory, TW should help, but it doesnt if you have an 18mo old and daycare closes at 12. I don't have a good amount of leave accrued because no maternity leave so I used it all with two pregnancies and deliveries. Took me 2 years to save up 5 weeks paid.
Anyways, I still will only work 2-4 hours tomorrow even with TW FT because both kids will be home. I drop off and cant start until 830, have to leave at 1115 for daycare pickup then go back to get my ES kid and then we all go home. Dad should be home early but it could be 1 or 3 or 4 depending on traffic and his boss. Hes government but SCIF so no telework ever.
He travels as well so I have to use leave for being able to cover pickup and drop off each day.
And last but more importantly, if you dont have family money or family help it really doesnt matter. You may end up with a few more days here and there but theres only so much you can do as two working parents trying to cover sick days, spring break, winter break, closures for wind, closures for snow, doctors appointments, etc.
And whoever has the more flexible job will always use their leave at a higher rate because of the flexibility. Workplaces tend to offset the telework with less leave and lower pay IME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a mid-sized law firm that is very parent friendly. We have a pumping room with a lock, couch, sink and fridge. On Friday my coworker opened a meeting saying she had a hard stop at 4pm to go get her kids. I have seen two male partners passing an infant back and forth while chatting in the hallway, while the infant's mother was in a meeting. One of my coworkers works a split-shift - half during the day and half after her kid goes to sleep at night. I went into a partner's office and his 12 yr old daughter was in there reading her book - she was there for the day.

I love this!

[Anonymous]

From my personal experience, Fortune 500 companies where there are a lot of employees with similar job functions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly do you mean by “parent friendly”? Have you looked at the Washingtonian magazine’s Best Places to Work issues?

I mostly mean being able to take time off when infants/toddlers are sick and daycare makes me pick them up and I have to use sick time. Also, being able to take them to doctors appointments and being able to use sick time or flex time. I've worked places before whereas long as I put my time in and work got done, I would never be hurt by taking time off. So it's not remote work that I care about (I'm hybrid), it's about realizing that kid things came up and the employer being flexible. This new organization is not like that at all for others and it's not even a for-profit company.

Your kid will be constantly sick. You need back up care.

Find a firm that has emergency back up child care as a benefit. The good pam’s will have both a center drop in service for the school non federal holiday closings (located in your office building is key).

The even better programs will offer highly subsidized ($50 or less) last minute, no prior notice needed back up in home nanny care.

This service saved my life when I had a baby who seemed to be sick at least once a week. They provided 10 hrs a day of in-home care.

Your kid will run a fever or vomits while in Daycare, they will be sent home, and they won’t be allowed back until 24 hrs after symptoms resolve. I remember a time period where it felt like I was using the service every single week.

I’m fully remote now and it’s a game changer but even with hybrid you will need emergency childcare backup those first years.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately I think this is more company specific vs industry specific. I have found that the trade associations I have worked for were family friendly but that was during the pandemic so not sure if that’s normal. I agree with the person who mentioned law firms. It depends on your role but on the staff side, I have found them to be great for working families.

[Anonymous]

I have always worked at non profits that serve children and families, and they have always been flexible and family friendly. The challenge there is we don't get paid a lot. It goes back to having it all (career and family): you can have it all, just not at the same time

[Anonymous]

One person's parent friendly is another person's have to do my work and pick up another person's too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a mid-sized law firm that is very parent friendly. We have a pumping room with a lock, couch, sink and fridge. On Friday my coworker opened a meeting saying she had a hard stop at 4pm to go get her kids. I have seen two male partners passing an infant back and forth while chatting in the hallway, while the infant's mother was in a meeting. One of my coworkers works a split-shift - half during the day and half after her kid goes to sleep at night. I went into a partner's office and his 12 yr old daughter was in there reading her book - she was there for the day.

Bringing infants to work is not representative of family friendly. It means it makes family work-friendly. A 12 year stuck in a law office all day?! Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of nonprofits are actually not family friendly at all despite the policies they advocate for. Their are short on resources and also act self important about their work.

Pre-DOGE I would have said govt but honestly even big companies are often more flexible than nonprofits.

I would focus on tangible things like how many days WFH you get, # of sick days separate from vacation days, etc. Culture is harder to suss out unless you know someone who works there. But just bringing up your kids in later stage interviews and seeing the reaction you get is telling. A lot will depend on your own manager too and whether that person has kids (mine has kids and his wife works FT so he fully gets the juggle, sometimes takes calls from his car on the way to kid appts, etc.).

Nonprofits are for trust fund girls to have to fun at, do a stint saving the world, then SAH once babies show up. They are the worst of both worlds for jobs.

[Anonymous]

Rigid in person schedules is the definition of parent friendy. You start at a set time, end at a set time, have a lunch break at a set time. It is perfect for child care drop off, pick up and being able to give teachers, doctors, Mom, Kids exact times of when you can talk on phone.

If anything full remote less flexible.

[Anonymous]

I work at a money market/management firm that is remote and incredibly family/child friendly. As long as your work gets done they don’t care. I’ve had members on my team had their sick kid in their lap or in the background during zooms or if that’s not possible they just have their cameras off or revise their RSVP that they can’t join bc of sick kid. 6 months parental leave for birth/adoption and they will let you break it up (coworker did 1 month when his baby was born then staggered the other 5 months to the back of his wife’s maternity leave so the baby had almost a full year at home with one or both parents).