Back to Case Studies “One of the main questions we get during the recruitment process is about benefits- tell me about your child care and how does it work?” Lilia Vergara, Vice President of Human Resources, Dr. Bronner’s
Background: Fulfilling a Promise to Treat Employees Like Family
Family founded and operated since 1948, Dr. Bronner’s is a soap and body products company headquartered in Vista, Cali., located a short drive from San Diego. Known in part for its progressive business practices and wordy product labels, the company’s core ethos remains: “We Are All-One or None.” Dr. Bronner’s is guided by its six “cosmic principles” that define their most important relationships, the third of which is to treat employees like family. And they proudly practice what they preach.
“If your family needs help, and you’re able to help them with small things, big things — you do it,” said Dr. Bronner’s vice president of human resources Lilia Vergara. “You treat them like someone you care about. We truly want to invest in employees and have them as a part of our extended family.” Like in any healthy family relationship, Dr. Bronner’s leaders check in regularly with their team. So, when a survey revealed that child care was a top stressor for parents working at the company, they quickly moved to offer child care stipends beginning in 2016.
Child Care Stipends Offer Relief for Working Parents
At first, the company offered $5,000 per family per year to subsidize up to 50% of child care costs. This approach suited employees for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought additional stressors to working parents. Vergara said that during that time, it became “glaringly obvious” that these employees needed more support.
Solutions: Adapting Child Care Assistance to Meet Workers’ Current Needs
In the early 2020s, Dr. Bronner’s expanded their child care assistance program in three key ways: increasing financial assistance, expanding their network of child care providers and finding a vendor to help with administration.
Increased Financial Assistance Helps with Rising Child Care Costs
While child care expenses are high across the nation, in Dr. Bronner’s home state of California, child care can cost more than college. In fact, according to the Economic Policy Institute, infant care in California costs $13,159 more per year than in-state tuition for four-year public college. So to start, Dr. Bronner’s boosted child care stipends by 50%. The company now covers up to half of the cost of approved child care providers, up to $7,500 per family, per year.
Employees with Nontraditional Hours Need Nontraditional Child Care Solutions
Dr. Bronner’s operates on three eight-hour shifts each day, with their largest shift running 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. That used to mean that some workers’ children would wake up and get ready for school on their own, while parents checked in by phone. One morning when one child wasn’t responding to calls and texts, the mother left her shift in a panic to check that everything was OK. (It was.) It was stories like this that moved Dr. Bronner’s to expand their child care assistance to include independent providers, including nannies and family, friends and neighbors (sometimes referred to as FFN care). This way, staff can use the same financial support to find care beyond traditional licensed child care centers operating from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Scaling Up Child Care Benefits
As Dr. Bronner’s child care assistance program became more popular, leaders found that it was becoming more challenging to administer the program on their own. Dr. Bronner’s partnered with TOOTRiS to outsource all child care benefit administration and give employees access to even more child care programs. Now through the TOOTRiS platform, employees can connect with care providers, manage payments and get assistance from a dedicated administrator who facilitates access, tracks stipend eligibility and more. Dr. Bronner’s pays the $7,500 per year per family benefit to TOOTRiS, making the funds immediately available to families and forgoing the need to be reimbursed for costs.
Results: Child Care Benefits Help with Recruitment and Retention
Including employer-sponsored child care as part of Dr. Bronner’s robust benefits package has been a win for the company in both recruitment and retention. “One of the main questions we get during the recruitment process is about benefits: ‘Tell me about your child care. How does it work?’” Vergara said.
Dr. Bronner’s boasts strong retention numbers to boot: In 2023, the company’s average employee tenure was seven years and average turnover just over 6%.
Challenges: Promotion and Automation
Getting the word out is one challenge Vergrara highlighted, specifically ensuring that working parents know about the program and understand that they’re responsible for covering at least half of child care costs. (Dr. Bronner’s covers up to 50% of eligible child care costs up to $7,500 per year, and the family pays the rest.)
Differences between child care providers has resulted in some issues with automation. For example, some families use providers that do not charge them for days missed, but unless these dates get flagged the system will automatically pay the provider. This has resulted in some parents being charged for care they did not use, which needed to be corrected.
Vergara’s Advice to Fellow Business Leaders
Get the Data
“Ask your workforce what they need,” Vergara advised. “It’s easy to get into problem-solving mode, but your solution may not be what your people want, or even need. Whether it’s through focus groups or surveys, etc., just find out what employees want to make sure you’re able to craft a program they will use.”
Finally, Keep Things Simple
She added, “When you land on a benefit, ensure it’s not so burdensome that parents won’t use it. We said, ‘Let’s pay for it and make it easy to use.’” Dr. Bronner’s isn’t looking back.
