Work and family responsibilities can sometimes be a difficult balancing act but working in a family-friendly company can help even the scales. Get some practical tips on how to spot a family-centered company here.

This is Lucy*.

Lucy loves her job. She is a young, single mom who works at a placement firm for community nurses and caregivers. She finds deep satisfaction in being able to match licensed healthcare providers into families that need specific care. Every once in a while Lucy receives touching thank you notes usually from parents of children who have special needs. She neatly tacks them up her cubicle along with happy photos of her two children, ages 3 and 7 ½ months. It keeps her inspired.

Sometimes work can be difficult, what with the daily demands of child care or one her kids occasionally getting the flu or tummy ache, being a single working mother is never easy.

What eases Lucy’s everyday burdens is that she’s lucky to belong to a family-friendly workplace that supports her role as a single mother. This was primarily the reason why she stayed on in the company. They supported her through her divorce, were generous with parental leaves for little emergencies and events at school and, even if the company is small, they’ve given her annual performance raises during all of her work anniversaries for a job well done.

It wasn’t perfect, though. No place ever is. [Read more…]