Plante & Moran Offers Saturday Daycare During Tax Season

March 24, 2011 - PRLog -- Grand Rapids, March 24, 2011 – Plante & Moran, PLLC is encouraging its accountants and staff to bring their children to work on Saturdays during tax season, a tradition the firm has practiced for almost 20 years.

The certified public accounting and business advisory firm offers free Saturday daycare in 11 of its Midwest offices – including Grand Rapids – during the height of tax season.  Children ages 6 months to 18 are welcome to attend the drop-in program, which offers games, crafts, snacks, activities, movies – and an opportunity to enjoy lunch with Mom or Dad.

Free Saturday daycare is just one of the many initiatives Plante & Moran offers to improve work-life balance, according to Grand Rapids Office Managing Partner Rich Antonini.

“Tax season means long hours at the office, more deadlines and more stress,” Antonini said.  “Not only are our accountants and staff impacted, their families are, too.  Saturday daycare is one way that we can ease the family stress that arises each year at this time.

“The kids enjoy coming to work with their Mom or Dad, who can feel better about coming into the office on a Saturday.  The other parent has a free day to run errands, catch up on household tasks or just relax.  Over the years, strong friendships have formed between the children who attend.”

During a recent Saturday in Grand Rapids, the training center was transformed into a play space for half-a-dozen children under the age of 8.  Some played basketball, others played dress-up while others built with Legos or drew pictures for their parents.  After sharing lunch with their parents, they cuddled up on big pillows to watch a movie or nap.

“Saturday daycare allows me to get a little bit of extra work done on Saturdays, yet I can pop in and check on Will every now and then,” explained Cheri Stein, a relationship manager with Plante Moran Financial Advisors who is pregnant with her second child.  “All the children enjoy coming to work with their parents on these Saturdays, which makes it easier for mothers like me.”

Plante & Moran recently received the Huntington Pillar Award from the Women’s Resource Center, which annually honors West Michigan Employers who empower women in their workforce with progressive policies and practices.  Plante & Moran was recognized for its decades-long focus on work-life balance and “intentionally creating policies and a culture that keeps their employees happy.”  Saturday daycare was one of the programs highlighted by the WRC.