Support working dads with flexible benefits, gain a healthier and happier workforce

The growing need for work-life balance

Working dads do it all these days. Just like working moms, they juggle the responsibilities of their jobs, their families, and their households – all of it made even more challenging by the work-from-home shift in recent years. However, the silver lining is that many dads have discovered they cherish being highly involved with their children.

In fact, dads are just as likely as moms to say that parenting is extremely important to their identity, and even more say they find parenting rewarding or enjoyable all of the time, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Those trends deserve both celebration and support.

Prioritize employee wellness to help working parents succeed at work and at home

Companies that hope to attract and retain top talent should pay close attention to how they can help support dads and all working parents in achieving the work-life balance they want. Just like the rest of today’s workforce, working dads expect modern benefits to match their modern lives and a one-size-fits-all approach to benefits lags behind. Flexible life benefits support working dads better by offering customization and the ability to choose the benefits that work best for them and their families.

Since 2017, Forma has helped companies design and deliver flexible benefits programs for more than 130 customers and 300,000 employees across the globe. Forma is proud to offer these benefits to its own employees as well. The dads at Forma have access to funds across four different accounts to support them in various aspects of their lives:

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• BeWell to support health and wellbeing
• BeConnected to connect and have fun with each other
• BeEquipped a one-time subsidy for office setup
• BeProductive to help cover support our remote-first teams working at home

How Forma supports working dads with flexible options to meet their needs

With Father’s Day coming up, we reached out to Forma’s dads to hear about what they value most when it comes to the life benefits platform and how they use their Forma spending accounts. Here’s what they had to say.

Address different needs, depending on the day.

I use the benefits to care for myself mentally and physically so I can continue to wrangle with my 18-month-old. I love being able to use the funds where I need them the most, depending on my most current and immediate needs. Sometimes I may feel more stressed out mentally or sometimes I may feel burned out physically and it's great that I can choose how to use the money without always being subjected to one rule or one bucket of eligibility.  
– Max Hsieh, Chief Technology Officer

Prioritize personal wellness.

“It's easy to invest my employment earnings directly into my family – for example, on a home and community we can thrive in and child care. Sometimes it can be hard to keep resources for my own personal wellness. The BeWell stipend is Forma's way of showing up as my well-being partner. My employer offers this generous budget and now I feel empowered and accountable to create time for my well-being. It helps me take care of myself and, by extension, those around me. The more healthy I am as an individual, the better I can show up as a father and a salesperson.”
– Brian Trudell, Account Executive

Ease the financial responsibilities of parenthood.

I use BeWell to pay for childcare for my son’s pre-school. It’s a big support for us and eases the financial burden of the expense.
– Howard Wu, Customer Operation Specialist

Fit in fitness wherever and whenever it’s most convenient.

Working from home, it became inconvenient to drive to the gym that used to be along my daily commute. Since being at Forma, I’ve been able to leverage my wellness subsidy to purchase workout equipment and bring the gym to me. This has been great not only for my physical health, but my mental well-being as well.
– Forrest Harris, Director of Business Development

Enable enriching activities for kids.

Forma gives me flexibility to work according to my schedule. On certain days,  I have to take care of my young baby or at times, pick up my other kids from school. Also, Forma's BeWell benefits give me a way to take care of my young family in different ways. For example, I was able to use my benefits to enroll my 10-month-old baby in a swimming class and my older son in soccer camp.
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– Yogesh Mali, Product Engineer

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