Who will pay when Dad&#39;s away?

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts September 1999 Current Issue
September 1999
Short Cuts:
Who will pay when Dad's away?

You've lobbied for flex time and other benefits. What else can you get from the higher-ups or offer to your staff in this tight job market? How about child-care payments for those who travel for business?

It may sound too good to be true, but in offices like Minneapolis-based American Express Financial Advisors, employees who travel are reimbursed for 100 percent of qualifying child-care costs.

Sonja Christensen, work/life specialist for the company, says the policy arose from employees' asking for help and leaders' being able to support it.

The office has other attractive programs, including emergency backup care. "If one out-of-town parent can't pick the child up, we reimburse 75 percent of the cost of keeping the child in day care until the other parent can get her," says Christensen.

"Anything we're reimbursing them for, though, is taxable income for them," she adds.

SARAH J.F. BRALEY