You can put being a parent near the top of the list of the world’s toughest jobs. Raising kids requires saintlike levels of patience and perseverance. Being a working parent means having 2 full-time jobs.
For too many parents, working full-time can feel like a tug of war between being there for your family and providing for them. The pressure can build up, especially for working moms, who feel like they carry more of the parenting load and feel less able to climb the corporate ladder while having the flexibility they need.
It’s no wonder parental and caregiver burnout are so common. As pediatrician Kelly Fradin wrote, “Our society undervalues the work of caregivers and assumes that parents should handle all caregiving on their own without outside help.”
At Fidelity, we know it takes a village to raise children and to build financial stability. That’s why we offer family-friendly workplace benefits. We know that when working parents have the benefits, support, and resources they need, they have less stress at work and at home. That translates into healthier families and greater productivity. That’s why working parents love Fidelity’s benefits.
What Employee Benefits Does Fidelity Provide for Parents?
If you’re trying to start or raise your family, Fidelity has multiple benefits to meet you where you are and help you and your family achieve your goals. That’s why we offer a unique combination of paid parental leave, childcare assistance benefits, flexible work arrangements, and work-life-balance benefits for working parents.
Starting Your Family: In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Benefits
Becoming a parent is sometimes an expensive, multiyear effort, especially when you need to turn to IVF or adoption. One minute, your heart can swell with joy, and another minute, it feels like your heart is breaking into a thousand shards.
The IVF process can be an emotional roller coaster—you shouldn’t have to worry about finances on top of that. That’s why Fidelity’s IVF benefit offers lifetime assistance of up to $50,000 for combined medication and procedures.
Zach, an Investment Management Consultant III, and his wife struggled to get pregnant for more than a year before turning to IVF. It took 2 more years and 2 IVF attempts before they had their son in 2024. “The journey wasn’t easy,” Zach said. “I shared our story with my manager, Lane, who was compassionate and empathetic. He made sure I had the time needed to be there for our appointments.”
At Fidelity, ensure you have the financial support you need to start your family as well as the flexibility and support you need to manage your IVF appointments and pregnancy checkups.
“My wife and I are truly thankful for Fidelity’s benefits to help make the impossible possible!” said Zach. “Few companies offer benefits like we do.”
Starting Your Family: Adoption Assistance Benefits
IVF isn’t always an option, which is why Fidelity also provides adoption assistance benefits. Agency and private adoptions can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000 or more. Cost barriers should be relevant when you’re trying to create a family.
For 2024, Fidelity’s Adoption-Assistance Program reimburses eligible associates up to $16,810 for covered adoption expenses incurred for the year. This benefit was how Tom, Global Relocation and Assignment Lead, and his husband, Matt (both Fidelity employees), were able to adopt not just 1 but 2 sons.
“The adoption-assistance benefit enabled us to afford the high cost of adoption,” said Tom. “Even though adopting and parenting aren’t easy, Fidelity made it easier for us to grow our family.”
Bonding with Your Child: Paid Parental Leave Benefits
The first few hours, days, weeks and months you have with your child are some of the most precious—and fleeting—periods you’ll share. At Fidelity, we want you and your child to have the time you need to recover and to bond.
“Fidelity gives you a very generous amount of time to spend with your new child,” said Amanda, Recruitment Marketing Manager, Enterprise Talent Marketing. Birthing parents get 16 weeks of paid parental leave whereas nonbirthing and adoptive parents get 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
Giving birth isn’t just a miracle of life—it’s dangerous and difficult too. It takes time and effort to recover, not to mention getting used to being a mom. Those first few months are a critical time to heal, adjust, and celebrate. “Maternity leave was so important to me. You can’t replace that time. The first few months with your child are amazing,” said Amanda.
It’s not just moms who benefit from paid parental leave—dads do too. “When our baby was born, I used all 12 weeks of leave up front. This was quite generous. We had a great first 3 months with our son,” said Zach. “Parental leave let us spend those first precious moments with each child,” said Tom.
Caring for Your Child: Backup Dependent Care
Getting childcare is a must-do for working parents. But what happens when your regular childcare is closed unexpectedly or has a holiday, and you don’t?
Eligible Fidelity employees can rest easy, knowing they have childcare assistance benefits like backup dependent care, which offers a national network of childcare centers and in-home caregivers when your regular child- or adult/eldercare arrangements are unavailable, for up to 20 uses per calendar year and 3 individuals a day per use.
For employees like Dominque, Senior Manager, Compliance, WI and Health Care Group, who’ve moved away from family and don’t have an extended support system, this benefit is a lifesaver. She was able to use Fidelity’s backup dependent care benefit to care for her youngest daughter before preschool started, and she uses it for school holidays too.
Fidelity’s backup dependent care benefit can even help if you have a family you can rely on for care. Amanda used this program when her parents had health appointments. She said, “I was able to take my daughter to a trusted Fidelity partner daycare center and feel comfortable. She loved it.”
Caring for Your Child: Developmental and Behavioral Benefits
Parenting is a challenge in the best of circumstances. When your child is neurodiverse, that challenge could become exponentially harder. Fidelity’s developmental and behavioral benefit offers access to certified behavioral analysts through RethinkCare. You and your child can get help even without a formal diagnosis, and there’s no cost to participate.
“If you think you’re lost, Rethink will help you navigate,” said Dominque. “I couldn’t believe we have such a cool benefit.” Rethink helped Dominique work with her oldest daughter’s school to get the support and resources she needed, like a 504 plan and an individualized education program, so she could thrive.
Caring for Your Child: Care Coordination Benefits
Fidelity provides the personalized support you need to tackle the logistical and administrative tasks of being a parent. This includes helping to navigate the medical, financial, legal, housing, in-home, and social/emotional aspects of taking care of your kids.
Giving You the Flexibility You Need to be a Working Parent
Flexible work arrangements are essential for working parents. After all, your kids won’t wait to get a fever or sprain an ankle until it’s most convenient for you.
We offer a minimum of 4 weeks of paid time off for vacation, for sick time, or if you just need a self-care day. You accrue paid time off each month, and, when you hit an employee milestone (like 10 years at Fidelity), you get an additional 5 days off that year. Plus, you get to roll over 40 hours from year to year.
Fidelity’s hybrid work schedule gives working parents the flexibility they need to juggle demands at home and at work. Fidelity has employees in the office once a week per month right now, which will be 2 weeks per month starting in September 2024.
It’s not just a hybrid schedule that helps working parents; we also know that the times when you do your best work might shift when you become a parent, and that you need understanding when the inevitable hiccups occur. “My team members are especially understanding about things that come up outside of work, and they are all really family-driven,” said Jasmine, Scrum Master for Fidelity Digital Assets.
“I think the flexibility around our working hours was so important—minding two kids is a job in itself—so I was very grateful to my manager, who was very understanding of the fact that I was, in a sense, balancing two jobs,” said Shelia, Senior Manager, Technology Management. “He was watching for outcomes, not the clock, so this gave me the ability to still deliver on my work commitments during the kid-free hours.”
Relieving Your Stress: Fidelity Concierge Services
Imagine being able to do more for your family in less time. Wouldn’t that take your stress levels down a notch or two? That’s exactly what Fidelity’s concierge services aim to do: give you more time and alleviate your stress.
Outsource planning your next family vacation, planning the next birthday party or coming up with the perfect gift idea. Fidelity’s concierge service is the personal assistant you’ve always wanted, to help cross even the peskiest things off your to-do list.
“Parents are extremely busy people, between working and caring for kids. All the planning and research takes so much time,” said Amanda. “The concierge team is awesome. They never disappoint. It’s one less thing to worry about and takes that stress off you. I get that time back to spend with my family.”
Other Resources for Connecting with Other Parents
As a parent, sometimes what you need is to connect with other parents who know what it’s like to have another sleepless night with the baby or live with an angsty preteen. One of Fidelity’s affinity groups helps parents and caregivers create a collaborative community and share the successes and failures of being working parents or caregivers.
Working Parents, Find Your Fidelity Here
Wherever you are on your parenting journey, Fidelity’s family-friendly workplace benefits meet you there.
With Fidelity at your side, you have the resources you need to start and grow your family—and help them flourish, no matter what hurdles await. Because when you feel cared for as an employee, you can care for your family.
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