Take care of kids and employees take better care of you.

Most parents who work at banks receive no help from their employer in caring for their small children. Yet as an industry, banking is doing more than many other employers.

The National Association of Bank Women polled its 27,000 financial industry executive members and found that

This may make financial institutions appear uncaring. However, the percentage of child care providers among financial institutions is higher than the national average. Only 11% of companies with 10 or more employees provide child care benefits or services, according to a 1987 survey of 10,000 businesses by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That makes financial companies leaders in this area. Why do the 26% of financial institutions that do provide child care programs feel they need to?

Consider Chicago's Northern Trust Co. , which is constructing a day care center expected to be running in the second half of 1990.

William Setterstrom, senior vice-president, human resources, says the bank's decision to provide day care "was based on a recognition of changing family lifestyles in our society and the needs of people at the bank. The decision was made after a great deal of analysis of their dependent care needs."

Setterstrom, also vice-chairman of ABA's Human Resources Executive Committee, adds"it's a situation that organizations, including banks, are going to have to respond to."

James Bell, Bank of Boston's director of human resources services, says, "I see more day care programs happening where Labor is tight. Banks in heavily populated areas like California and New York seem to have these programs." Bank of Boston provides a child care referral program and a taxchild care account. The latter is a dependent care reimbursement plan which, under the provisions of the Family Support Act of 1988, allows employees to put up to $5,000 of their pretax salary dollars in an account to pay for dependent care. Employers also save money in this arrangement because they don't have to pay social security and unemployment tax on that money.

After completing the survey of its membership, which revealed 12.5% of the work week is spent addressing child care concerns, NABW took a closer look at industry child care policies. It will release in September The Child Care Partnership: Making It Work, a study that examines several banks that have child care facilities or programs that counsel employees or help them make child care payments. A free copy may be obtained by calling NABW at (312) 661-1700.

Child care center One innovative institution covered in the study is Meridian Bancorp, Inc., Reading, Pa.

The bank holding company researched child care in the area near its headquarters and found that most facilities had long waiting lists. It renovated an apartment building within a few blocks of each of the half dozen Meridian locations in Reading and opened an employee child care center called The Treasury in July 1988. Meridian has a five-year lease on the 4,700 square foot space, which includes a roof-top playground.

A third-party operator runs the center "We are not in the child care business," explains Tui Canonico, human resources officer at Mer"We wanted to do it right." The company contracted with the Community Child Care program of the Berks County Intermediate Unit, one of a number of service agencies for the local school districts. Meridian's use of a third party releases the bank from liability.

The Treasury accepts infants, toddlers, and preschoolers ages three months to kindergarten. "Some child care providers will not accept a child until the child is six months old, while others will not accept a child until he or she is potty trained," says Canonico. "Accepting infants as young as three months coincides nicely with our parental leave policy."

The center is open from 6:30 A.M. to 6 P.M. all weekdays except bank holidays. Tuition, $60 a week for preschool children, $70 for toddlers, and $80 for infants, is expected to cover operating costs.

Easy to get to. For employees, the main benefit of the center is its convenient location. "If parents want to have lunch with their kids they can," says Canonico.

"We lost valuable employees because they couldn't find child care. We have to recruit and retain workers. At a time when employers must go to great lengths to compete for qualified employees," she says, "The Treasury is an excellent recruiting tool."

Child care is not just for women, according to Canonico. "Most employers think child care is a female issue," she says, "but we are currently serving nine fathers in our program." Day care components. NAB W's study found that most bank day care centers share several common features:

* Both full- and pan-time employees may use them. * Centers are partially subsidized by the employer, who either covers costs of ongoing operation or pays for improvements to the property.

* Liability for day-to-day operations is assumed by the center operator-not the financial employer.

* The institution, often with assistance from the operator, conducts a thorough communications program to explain the new benefit.

The study notes that employers offering day care assistance find the service aids in recruitment and retention.

Corporate chicken soup. First Bank System, Minneapolis, is another banking company cited in NABW's study. It doesn't have a day care center, but offers employee parents several other programs. For example, it offers employees subsidized care for sick children; a free child care referral program; parental leave for both men and women; and a dependent care account in which employees can use their pretax dollars for child care expenses. (This is another dependent care reimbursement plan.)

The holding company started this effort in 1986. "We'd hear from managers about issues employees were having trouble with and we'd read about the problems of working parents in internal and external publications," says Judi Nevonen, assistant vice-president for human resources at First Bank System. About 50% of the holding company's employees have children under 12.

First Bank employees in Minneapolis with sick children have three options. They can bring the child in to a center called Chicken Soup, a few blocks from the holding company's main downtown branch; they can call a service called Tender Care for Kids, which sends trained people to the employee's home; or they can stay home and take a sick day. If they use one of the services, the bank will pay 75% of the fee.

Money savings. Nevonen says the program is cost-effective. "If you try to measure the lost work of the employee who is staying at home against the cost of the sick child program, the absence is more expensive," she explains.

The bank's child care referral program teaches employees how to select a provider they will feel comfortable with. It also helps them determine what they want to see in a provider: Some parents, for example, won't tolerate staff smoking or insist on a particular ratio between center staff and children. The service considers these factors and comes up with a list of centers that meet parental requirements. The bank provides the service free and does not recommend any center

The bank feels this service is also cost-effective. "We're assuming the employee would otherwise have to spend a lot of time at work arranging child care," says Nevonen.

First System's other locations offer similar programs.

Several respondents to the NABW survey reported that they have sick child care programs.

"Most financial institutions offering sick child care programs noted that they assume all or a large pan of the fees associated with the service," according to the study. It points out that "the process isn't as complicated as it soundsmore and more pediatric units of local hospitals are branching into the sick child care area, and private providers are appearing in many communities."

The study also found "the costs related to sick child care depend on the type of service selected and the community in which the institution is located. Local hospitals administering care charge from a low of $2.50 per hour to $7.00 per hour. Costs for local medical centers and assorted private programs can begin at about $2.50 and run as high as $10 per hour for in-home services."

Choices. As the study points out, there are other options for banks that want to offer child care programs to employees. For example, they can subsidize employees' child care payments and offer them flexible work schedules.

For banks that are thinking of starting some type of child care program, NABW's study offers some advice:

"Develop a task force, or assign the responsibility to one individual. Survey your employees. Talk with other financial institutions and local companies about how they are handling their employees' child care situations."

MUCH WORK TO DO

ABA's Human Resources Executive Committee, which is chaired by Donald Summers, senior vice-president, Secur ity Pacific Bank Washington, Seattle, offers these recommendations to bankers, businesses, and Congress.

* While legislative initiatives are acceptable means of solving some child care issues, voluntary programs by employers should be strongly encouraged.

* Any legislative proposal on child care must allow the private sector to offer a flexible response to various child care needs.

* Businesses that offer on-site child care facilities should receive tax incentives to provide such services.

*Businesses should voluntarily offer flex-time and part-time work schedules for working parents.

* Individuals in appropriate income categories should receive tax credits or, in some cases, refundable tax credits for child care costs.

* Congress should consider the creation of a Child Care Liability Risk Retention Group to lessen the difficulty for child care providers to obtain affordable liability insurance.

* Innovative bank programs, such as afterschool care, should be publicized and strongly encouraged.

ABA is putting together information materials on child care programs.