Firms bend to support dads

By Tom Arnold
Illustration: Seth

According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, four out of 10 working fathers would stay at home if their spouses earned enough to support their families.

The study, Working Dads 2006, also tallied the effect of career on fatherhood, with 28% of participants reporting that heavy workloads and demanding schedules have a negative impact on relationships with their children. The poll of 225 employed dads indicated 40% worked for companies with flexible work arrangements.

Since staying at home isn’t an option for many men, companies are increasingly taking creative approaches to ensure dads on their staff maintain thriving professional careers and fulfilled home lives, says Beth Wilson, CA and chief human resources officer for KPMG in Canada. KPMG offers flexible office hours and work weeks and the option of working from home. New dads get four weeks paid paternity leave; adoptive parents enjoy the same benefit and are eligible for up to $20,000 assistance. The firm also provides emergency backup child care and a concierge service to ease demanding schedules. “What we are doing is taking a longer term view of somebody’s career,” says Wilson.

At Ernst & Young, all employees can workflexibly, says Karen Wensley, the company’s Ca-nadian human resources director. “People can arrange their work days to accomplish their personal as well as their business goals. It’s about getting the job done, not about working standard hours.”

However, working at home isn’t feasible for everyone.

“I’m not sure I could work from home on a full-time basis,” says Brent Pyper, partner with Durward Jones Barkwell & Co. LLP in Hamilton, who must attend meetings regularly. “Plus,” he says, “I might tend to spend too much time with the kids.”

He acknowledges, though, that finding good CAs can sometimes be a challenge and his firm would try to be flexible to keep the best on board.