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On-site
day care helps company recruit and retain workers
Related
link:
The state of the union
by
Doug Forshey
Virginia
Business
October 2003
Many
workers struggle to balance the demands of work and
family life. A Virginia company is trying to ease this
burden by providing on-site day care that not only removes
the headache of finding child care, but also allows
parents opportunties to visit their children.
The
investment in three family centers is paying off for
Bon Secours Richmond Health, especially when it comes
to attracting much-needed nurses. A national nursing
shortage has vacancy rates at most Virginia hospitals
at about 12 percent. At Bon Secours’ three hospitals,
the vacancy rate is just 3 percent to 4 percent. During
a four-month period last year, the hospital exceeded
its goal of finding 100 nurses by adding 350 in less
than 150 days.
Another
area where Bon Secours is seeing a benefit is a lower-than-average
employee turnover rate. Rates for many hospitals hover
in the 20 percent to 24 percent range, but Bon Secours
has managed to reduce its rate to 15.5 percent. Among
employees who have children in day care at the hospital,
the rate is even lower — only 7 percent.
“Since opening the child care centers, we have
been able to realize a 93 percent retention rate among
a segment of our employee population that turns over
frequently — mothers with young children,”
says Bonnie Shelor, vice president of human resources
at Bon Secours.
A
private employer, Bon Secours has a work force of 5,135
with about 85 percent of them women. Its on-site centers
provide care for employees’ children ages 6 weeks
to 12 years, 364 days a year (except Christmas). Camps
are available during Christmas, spring break and holidays.
The centers’ extended hours accommodate shift workers.
Children ages 12 and up can participate in volunteer
programs that expose them to college fairs.
Bon
Secours’ newest center is a 7,400-square-foot facility
on the campus of Memorial Regional Medical Center in
Hanover County, which can serve 112 children daily.
The $1.5 million center charges employees based on a
child’s age and use. Infant care costs about $148
a week and full-time preschool care $121 a week. Part-time
care for children 3 to 12 ranges from $28 to $35 a day.
“It
clearly made good business sense for us to invest in
a childcare center at Memorial Regional Medical Center
— we’ve seen that it helps us keep our employees,”
Shelor says. While other companies stop short of providing
actual on-site centers, some offer child-care subsidies
and more flexible schedules following the birth of a
child.
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