by Mary Beth Barry
We know that employers have always needed a competitive and well-rounded benefits package. With staffing shortages, a tighter labor market, and a need to counter the “Great Resignation,” employers must consider offering even more flexible and unique benefits to their employees.
Now more than ever, employees expect flexibility and expanded benefits to meet their individual needs and demands.
Currently many companies are adopting illicit benefit practices that condone and support abortions, such as offering travel benefits or financial assistance to those seeking an abortion.
As Catholics we proclaim that human life is a precious gift from God; that each person who receives this gift has responsibilities toward God, self, and others; and that society, must protect and nurture human life at every stage of its existence.
Below are ideas that, when added to your benefits package, would support your Catholic faith by promoting healthy family life and encouraging employees to start or expand their families aligned with our Catholic faith.
- Ensure that your health plan includes coverage for Natural Family Planning and NaProTechnology
- Offer paid Family Medical Leave time (FML) for mother and father
- Increase your current paid time off program. This can help so that staff have more time to take care of sick children, doctor’s appointments, and counseling appointments
- Update your current “sick/EIB” time off policy to include allowing usage for an employee’s child and not just your employee
- Ensure you have an excellent Short-Term Disability (STD) plan that is subsidized by the employer. This supplements their leave time so not as much of their time off will be unpaid
- Offer marriage counseling resources or financial help
- Consider paying to have breast milk express-shipped to the homes of breastfeeding women who are on the road for work. Some companies provide mothers with a travel kit that includes an insulated cooler with ice packs, baby bottles to store the milk, and a shipping box for the cooler
- Make work hours flexible without reducing hours
- Help with daycare co-op/babysitting assistance if an employee’s child(ren) is sick etc.
- Allow more work from home time
- Offer transportation assistance/resources for things such as pregnancy-related doctor appointments (bus passes, cab fare, parking), getting a child to daycare/appointments
- Subsidize costs for groceries, formula, diapers, etc.
- If not already mandated by state law, give paid time off to attend parent-teacher conferences or meetings related to special education, dropout prevention, attendance, truancy, disciplinary issues, or response to intervention
Offer benefits that provide financial assistance
- Subsidize childcare (or helping older people retire more quickly, so they can help look after their grandchildren
- Offer paid maternity leave for those states that don’t require it; consider extending the number of weeks from 12-16
- Assist with daycare resources (help them find local resources)
- Consider having an in-house daycare option
- Partner with local daycare providers to offer discounts
- Establish a loan program (or there are companies that do this) that provides loans to employed people. Repayments are then deducted from their paychecks. These can help people pay down mounting medical bills, education loans, daycare bills, etc.
- This can also help with mortgages, rent, etc.
- Partner with financial institutions to give education on economic issues like saving money, paying for childcare expenses, child education (private or postsecondary)
- Ensure current benefit vendors educate employees Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA)/Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and other tax saving medical benefits options
- Offer financial education/guidance to those looking for a place to live (home ownership or those just looking to live on their own)
Ensure you have a robust Employee Assistance Program
- A strong EAP should offer services designed to improve and support employees as they experience life changes in a wide variety of subjects, such as:
- Issues such as alcohol or drug abuse
- Legal assistance
- Adult and Elder Care
- Assessment and Counseling
- Child and Family Care
- Chronic Medical Condition
- Financial Assistance
- Informational Services
- Life Learning
Adoption assistance:
- Give paid leave to new mothers and fathers after the birth or adoption of a child
- Provide information and referral services related to adoption
- Offer financial assistance or reimburse employees for certain expected adoption-related expenses such as adoption agency fees, foreign adoption fees, legal fees, maternity fees for the birth mother, placement fees, and travel expenses directly related to the adoption
- Offer additional financial assistance if the adopted child has special needs
Remember to first consult your state laws for requirements around the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or other paid/unpaid time off mandates. You may already have obligations that you must meet. For example, Colorado employers are not required to pay employees for the time they take off to have/care for a baby (yet).
If your organization has additional benefits that they offer or you have additional ideas that you would like for us to include, we would love for you to share these with us.
As a reminder, your CBA membership dues give you access to Professional HR Consultation at no additional cost and access to resources on our Members Only Room on the CBA website. Please feel free to contact me for guidance you may need on this, or any other human resources related topic.