Fortune Magazine names Crowe Horwath as one of the best workplaces for parents
Personnel credit mobility and parental leave program for firm's recognition
Nov 29, 2017, 11:22 ET
CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Barbie Shoemake's son was born 13 weeks early at 1 pound, 11 ounces. He was released from the neonatal intensive care unit as Shoemake's combined short-term disability and family medical leave coverage were about to expire. Many parents would be required to return to work in this situation. However, with Crowe Horwath LLP's parental leave policy, she was able to take off six additional paid weeks to bond with him and adjust to their new life at home.
"With our added medical expenses and need for extra time off that we didn't expect, the paid parental leave was a weight off my shoulders," said Shoemake, a people services senior associate at Crowe.
Crowe, one of the largest public accounting, consulting and technology firms in the U.S., has once again been named to the Fortune Best Workplaces for Parents list. The list is based on feedback from more than 443,250 parents and nonparents at Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies.
Crowe's parental leave policy is composed of a short-term disability period for birth mothers and an additional six weeks of full-paid time off for all parents – including mothers, fathers, partners and adoptive parents. Arpit Parikh, an audit manager at Crowe, recently split his six-week parental leave into two-week increments, which he said allowed him to enjoy milestones with his family.
"I think it's a very good idea to extend parental leave to fathers, as they too need to be and would like to be involved in the child's care," Parikh said.
The firm's mobility policy is also credited as a driver for parents' success in the workplace. With the flexibility of choosing when to work in the office and when to work off-site, parents are often able to schedule around their children's events, such as school pickup and drop-off, doctor visits, sick days, sporting events, holidays and so on.
New Crowe parents Melissa and Tony Boras use the firm's mobility policy to build flexibility into their schedules. On days she works remotely, Melissa, a manager in people services at Crowe, eliminates her commute time, allowing her to work a full day then easily transition to family life afterward.
"I used to stay late at the office to meet deadlines, but I can now comfortably leave the office closer to 5 to maximize my time with our son," said Tony, a professional practice standards senior manager at Crowe. "After he goes to sleep, I often log back on at home to finish projects."
When analyzing employer feedback, Great Place to Work® considered a company's success in creating a great place to work for all employees, regardless of parenting status. Survey topics included career opportunities, company culture and benefits, biological and adoptive parental leave programs and flexibility.
For more information on the benefits of working at Crowe, please visit the Crowe benefits page.
About Crowe Horwath
Crowe Horwath LLP (www.crowehorwath.com) is one of the largest public accounting, consulting, and technology firms in the United States. Crowe uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities while also helping clients reach their goals with tax, advisory, risk and performance services. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the country's best places to work. Crowe serves clients worldwide as an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in nearly 130 countries around the world.
SOURCE Crowe Horwath LLP