For Small Businesses

Small businesses account for 99.6 percent of all businesses in North Carolina and employ nearly half of all North Carolinians. And overall, 60 percent of small businesses nationwide say the labor shortage is affecting them.

Attract Workers and Keep Them

Family-friendly workplaces attract more workers and keep them longer. Yet, by and large, small businesses tend to offer fewer family-friendly policies to employees:

• Nationally, 28 percent of employers with 500 or more employees offer child care benefits, but just five percent of small businesses with fewer than 50 employees do. 
• Similarly, larger employers are more  likely to offer paid family leave and paid sick leave than small employers.

For many small businesses, determining how to incorporate family-friendly workplace practices can be a challenge. Many times, business owners feel they don’t have the cash flow or resources to offer support like paid family leave or child care stipends. On top of that, most small businesses do not have a dedicated HR professional (or even someone experienced with workforce issues) handling their HR needs. 

But the cost of not having a family-friendly workplace is steep. For example, the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation reports that 35% of parents who experienced disruptions to their employment in 2024 reported leaving the workforce due to issues with child care.