Companies Supporting Adoptive Parents
credit: Gustty
When you think of adoption, you probably don’t immediately think of company support and benefits, but that may be changing. In 2007, 45 percent of the top 1,000 major U.S. companies offered their employees financial aid for adoption, a huge increase from 1990’s 10 percent.
In addition to financial aid to help cover the sky-high costs of adoption, employers are also helping out in other ways, including paid time off (”maternity” leave). By law, companies must grant at least 12 weeks unpaid time off, but in today’s marketplace, many are making themselves more competitive. In addition to maintaining a competitive edge, offering adoption benefits helps create a more family-friendly image for the company, something that is positive to even those who aren’t parents.
Creating goodwill among happy employees helps a company create a positive environment, and everyone will benefit from that. In addition, the public image of a business with happy employees is much higher, and in today’s economy, everyone can use a little extra edge.
For those that choose to adopt, prepare for companies to become more understanding and accommodating. And, even if you’re not a prospective adoptive parent, consider your potential employer’s stance on parenthood, and get a good look into the company’s soul.
Tags: Adoption | Employees | Employment | Maternity
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 3:30 am and is filed under Kids and Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
