FILE PHOTO: woman working from home with her child.
Business leaders throughout Utah have created a new guide that outline steps for Utah business leaders to create family-friendly workplace policies. Utah Community Builders, in partnership with the Salt Lake Chamber, United Way of Salt Lake, and Voices for Utah Children, have launched a new guide titled “Family-Friendly Workplaces: A Guide for Utah Business Leaders”. The guide aims to provide businesses with valuable data, best practices, and actionable steps to elevate the culture and leadership around child care support.
According to Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, the private sector can positively impact Utah’s workforce by addressing how child care, employee wellness, employee retention, and upward mobility all intersect. The 13-page guide encourages businesses to start addressing the issue by understanding the needs of working parents, recognizing they are not alone in this issue, taking small steps to get quick wins, and cultivating strong leadership and elevated culture.
“When the wellbeing of young children is at the center of public policy and community investment, our entire state does better,” said Moe Hickey, executive director of Voices for Utah Children in a joint release. “It is possible to build an early childhood system in Utah that supports families by making sure they have access to affordable and appropriate options for their children’s early care and learning — whether children spend their days at home, in formal child care, at public school, or in the care of trusted family and friends.
“But Utah hasn’t taken the necessary steps to do so. We need to come together as leaders to do whatever is necessary to improve the status of child care in our state.”
Bill Crim, president and CEO of United Way of Salt Lake, highlights that lack of affordable child care is a massive barrier to parents’ ability to work and ultimately impacts Utah businesses and the economy. He emphasizes the need for the community to come together to help families with the resources that will enable them to work and advance their careers.
“As a working parent myself, I personally know the importance of finding reliable, safe care for your children while you’re away,” said Heather Brace, chief people officer of Intermountain Health. “That’s why Intermountain Health has six onsite child development centers, from Logan to St. George, to support our employees.
“We currently care for 736 children enrolled in our centers, which supports 551 employees, and are always looking for other high-quality care options to expand the benefit to more employees. It’s time for Utah business leaders to come together to think of ways to support more employees with child care and access.”
The guide also highlights the impact of the child care crisis on families, child care providers, and business owners. It calls for businesses to think creatively about ways to build the child care infrastructure needed to help working parents keep working for their families and the economy as a whole.
The guide can be a resource for Utah leaders in business, government, and community. CEOs, presidents, managers, and human resource professionals throughout Utah’s business community are encouraged to carefully review the contents of the guide and consider what steps they can take in their organizations to support the child care needs and overall well-being and success of their employees.