Family-friendly workplace initiative

Recognizing that employers play a key role in helping families balance work and family responsibilities, the Executive Office of the Governor, in consultation with members of the business community, may establish a family-friendly workplace initiative. The Executive Office of the Governor may develop a program to annually collect information regarding the state’s eligible small employers with 50 or fewer employees, and eligible large employers with 51 or more employees in the state, providing the most family-friendly benefits to their employees. The same program may be established for public employers. The criteria for determination of the eligible employers may include, but not be limited to: (1) Consideration of the dependent care scholarship or discounts given by the employer. (2) Flexible work hours and schedules. (3) Time off for caring for sick or injured dependents. (4) The provision of onsite or nearby dependent care. (5) Dependent care referral services. (6) In-kind contributions to community dependent care programs.Those employers chosen by the Executive Office of the Governor may be recognized with annual “family-friendly workplace” awards and a statewide information and advertising campaign publicizing the employers’ awards, their contributions to family-friendly child care, and the methods they used to improve the dependent care experiences of their employees’ families.