Crowe Horwath Helps Employees Maintain Work/Life Balance During Firm's Busy Season

OAK BROOK, Ill., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- For accountants in tax and auditing practices, the "busy season" (January 2 to April 15) is understood as a time when extra hours and working Saturdays are a given. To help ease that burden, Crowe Horwath LLP, one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States, offers benefits targeted to helping its people maintain work/life balance.

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In several offices, complimentary, on-site babysitting is offered on Saturdays during the busy season. According to Kimberly Sass, Crowe's director of operations services, this program has proven to be popular with the firm's professionals and their children. "Kids enjoy the activities planned for them, ranging from arts and crafts to group games, and special guests like local firemen. Plus, they love the idea of 'going to work' with mom or dad," Sass said. "The parents can get their work done and still have lunch with their kids, without having to spend money on extra childcare."

Jodie Thomson, a senior manager in Crowe's audit and financial advisory group based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has been using the babysitting program for six years for her children Luke and Katie, who are now 6 and 5, respectively. "Luke and Katie love coming to our work child care and ask me not to pick them up early," said Thomson. "It allows the kids to ride to work with me, and I get to see them at lunch. Plus, without the program, I would have to ask a relative to watch them on the weekend." Thomson added that she thinks the babysitting program is one of the many reasons that Crowe is such a great place to work.

Another program Crowe offers to help ease the pressure of being away from home is the Road Warrior program. For Crowe individuals who travel overnight more than 30 percent of their scheduled work days, this program aims to makes it easier when they are away from home. Program benefits include a weekend travel program to fly a significant other or friend to their location or the option to fly to a different destination instead of back home; hotel laundry/dry cleaning reimbursement; health club reimbursement; upgraded technology tools and airline club reimbursement, among others.

According to Joshua Lance, a senior staff member in Crowe's audit and financial advisory group based in Oak Brook, Ill., the best perk of the Road Warrior program is the weekend travel program. "My wife has joined me for the weekend when I've been at a location for multiple weeks," said Lance. "It's great because it makes being out of town and away from family manageable. We get to have a little weekend getaway in places we might not have normally seen."

For more information on Crowe's work/life initiatives, please visit: http://www.crowehorwath.com/Crowe/AboutUs/bestPlacesToWork.cfm.

About Crowe Horwath

Crowe Horwath LLP (www.crowehorwath.com) is one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States. Under its core purpose of "Building Value with Values®," Crowe assists public and private company clients in reaching their goals through audit, tax, advisory, risk and performance services. With 25 offices and 2,400 personnel, Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the country's best places to work. Crowe serves clients worldwide as an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, one of the largest networks in the world, consisting of more than 140 independent accounting and management consulting firms with offices in more than 400 cities around the world.

SOURCE Crowe Horwath LLP