Companies woo employees with family-friendly policies
Vancouver Sun
January 18, 2008
By: Stefanie Kranjec

TORONTO -- Canadian companies are recognizing that juggling work and family timetables can be awkward for many parents and taking steps to help employees by introducing policies that allow telecommuting or flextime, a new survey shows.

According to the survey, released Thursday by OfficeTeam, a staffing service, 65 per cent of Canadian companies have made policy changes to accommodate working parents' schedules.

"I think that, in today's marketplace, there's a growing number of people that are in that 'sandwich generation,' meaning between the ages of 45 to 65, that are still working ... that are still responsible for their kids as well as their elderly parents," said Lisa Fried, division director for OfficeTeam.

"Those people have the experience and the expertise, so they're quite valuable to their employer," said Fried. "In order to retain them and keep them happy -- staff morale, that kind of thing -- it's important to offer benefits like that."

Perks such as extended family leave, elder-care and child-care services benefit more than just employees, the survey found. Companies that advertise these programs when recruiting tend to attract the type of employees they want.

"In today's marketplace it is getting tighter on the recruitment and retention side of things, and employees are realizing that they do need that work-life balance," said Fried.

"It's important from an economic standpoint for the company to ensure that they're retaining staff, and staff morale and satisfaction is there, and employee productivity is there," said Fried.