Adoption Friendly Companies

This article in the phillyburbs.com kept popping up recently so I decided that I was supposed to write about it. The article is all about Verispan LLC. Verispan offers its employees an adoption benefit package and there is a short section about one of the families who used the benefit when adopting two children from Korea.

I was reading the article and I was thinking about how nice it would be if more companies came on board. I suspect that adoption benefits will continue to grow, but unfortunately it is growing slowly. While FMLA makes it possible for many parents to take the time off without worrying about their jobs, FMLA is an unpaid leave of absence. There are many people out there who can’t afford to take the time off.

When my son came, I was lucky enough that I was able to take the full twelve weeks off. I certainly got a crash course in one-income living. My co-worker went out on leave two days earlier than I did and, because hers was a natural birth, she received four weeks of full pay. Someone commented that they thought that was a little unfair, but I felt obligated to point out that I had avoided the twelve hour labor, the hospital stay and the recovery time. Still, I think what bothered me the most was that there was a lack of recognition. Some people seemed a little shocked that I would take the whole twelve weeks (as if I wasn’t entitled to the time).

What I found really interesting about this article was that Verispan’s adoption benefit came about because an employee proposed it. My parents always told me that it never hurts to ask a question. One person’s question (in this case) gave a whole lot to the other people in the company. If you don’t think that you are in the position to make a proposal, perhaps you can start your campaign with a whisper. Whisper it to enough people, someone may take hold of it and make it a reality.

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