Pam Coffey is a widowed mother of two boys who works long hours and travels often for her executive job with Dex Media in West Des Moines.
The last thing she needs is a child care emergency. Which is why Coffey, 41, has a down-pat routine for her sons, 10 and 7, that relies on a child care provider who can cover for her at home whenever - and however - she needs it.
"For me, with the job I have, I just really need flexibility when it comes to child care," said Coffey, who moved back to her home state from Seattle four years ago after her husband died. "I need backup care, overnight care, after 6 p.m. care. It's all about having that peace of mind."
Cherish Anderson, whose nanny agency has been helping Coffey find child care providers for the last four years, hopes her new company, SafeHands Flex Care, will soon begin serving more families in a more structured way: through their employers. The backup child care service that debuts this month will give companies a new benefit to offer their employees. Anderson said it has proved to reduce unscheduled absences and give working parents the relief they need to do their jobs well.
"There is a huge demand for this type of service," said Anderson, who started Nanny2Shoes in Des Moines in 2003. "Companies have been helping their employees with health care and wellness programs for a long time, and this falls right into that. This is child care insurance. Every working parent out there knows what a blessing that would be."
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, unscheduled absences relating to child care cost employers $4 billion a year, with 65 percent of HR professionals rating the issue as a problem to some degree. Nationally and in Iowa, more companies are trying to turn that loss around by offering more options for child care pinch-hitting, said Mark Becker, executive vice president of David P. Lind & Associates, a workplace consulting firm in Clive.
Among Working Mother magazine's recent ranking of the top 100 companies to work for, 69 percent of them offer emergency backup child care in some fashion. Becker said his firm's Employer Benefits Study shows the practice is growing in Iowa.
"Our 2007 study reveals the largest increase in the number of employers sponsoring this benefit," he said, noting that the percentage of Iowa employers offering some form of child care rose to 7.5 percent from 4.4 percent a year ago.
Paula Hender, spokeswoman for central Iowa's chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, said the benefit tends to be offered more by larger employers, or those who have a fair number of workers who have relocated away from extended family members.
"That's when the typical family support system - that you would rely on when your child has a mild fever and cannot go to school - no longer exists," Hender said. "Employers that have a work force that is typically 'brought in' or relocate frequently may want to consider providing access to this service for their employees."
Anderson said more than a third of her current clients with Nanny2Shoes already are using her service for emergency, planned or sick backup care. Fourteen percent request nannies because they have to work after hours, on weekends or attend meetings; 18 percent use the service because they are required to travel for work.
"I've already seen the need for this, and I'm already providing the service," said Anderson, 39. "Why not go to the corporate level and offer it as a direct benefit for employees? It makes complete sense."
Full text available at the Des Moines Register