Savvy Mom Media – Progressive Employers of Canada List

At SavvyMom Media, there is a wide range of services, benefits and arrangements in place which make it a great place for moms to work. As moms themselves and having experienced a range of corporate and alternative work environments, the founders of the company are very open to any arrangement that is proposed by employees (100% of whom are working moms) in an effort to support their work/life balance needs.

These include the following:

Access to emergency childcare: while the scale of the company does not support having a permanent arrangement in place for emergency childcare, it is well understood that employees who need to leave the office due to health or other emergencies with their children are free to do so, and do not need to formally make up any lost work time as a result of these situations.

Flex-time: Every employee at SavvyMom is able to work on a flexible schedule which is arranged around their family’s situation and childcare availability, and many staff members do take advantage of these opportunities, making up their hours at alternate times, whether it is to fit in time for exercise or other personal care, to work around available childcare arrangements or to find time to attend school events or take children to extracurricular activities. Remote working arrangements are also available for those who need it.

Job cooperatives / job sharing: in two of the four cities where SavvyMom Media publishes its local newsletter, job sharing arrangements are in place for the local writing team, who prefer to work reduced time to accommodate their other family obligations, while still allowing them to remain a part of the SavvyMom team.

Part-time or contract positions: Over 50% of staff work in part-time or contract positions, arranged to accommodate their personal schedule and childcare arrangements, while allowing them to contribute their talents and expertise to the SavvyMom operations. These arrangements are developed in consultation with the new staff member to suit her schedule and are unique to each employee.

Gradual re-entry after maternity leave: while we have only had one staff member under these circumstances, she was able to make arrangements to re-enter on a gradual basis.

Concierge services: while the company is still too small to offer such a service, the office location was expressly chosen to ensure easy access to all the stores a mom might need ready access to on her lunch break to get all her errands done. Within steps of our office, you can find three banks, a grocery store, a drugstore, a toy store, a stationery store, a hardware store and much more, which makes it easy to cross things off the list to and from work.

Lactation rooms: while a dedicated lactation room is not available, when anyone visiting the office with their baby needs privacy for this (several contractors have been in the office with their newborn babies for example), arrangements are made.

On-site daycare: while the office is not large enough to accommodate onsite daycare, from time to time staff members do bring their children to the office due to changes in school schedules, illness and other such reasons, and we maintain a ‘kid fun’ box in the office full of books, craft supplies etc. which can be used to entertain the child while he is in the office

Vacation: All employees receive paid vacation allowance, in addition to all statutory holidays off. As well, the office is closed for several additional days over the December holiday season to allow staff addition time off with their families, and in the summer months, the office closes at noon on Fridays to allow staff to further enjoy their summer with their families.

Mom-supportive culture: Unlike in other work environments, there’s no need to hide the fact that you are a mom, and trying to balance everything that that entails with your professional career, at SavvyMom Media. It’s OK to cancel a meeting because you have to leave to pick up a sick child at work. Everyone understands if you need to leave the office for a few hours to attend your child’s holiday concert, just as they understand you are committed to your work and you will get it done on schedule (even if that means doing some work from home after the children have gone to bed). Holiday parties are parties for the whole family, so moms don’t have to spend more time away from their family for a work event, and so that all the families can get to know each other better.