The Spark
Feedback from the Top Workplaces survey and a subsequent childcare survey prompted United Clean Up Oak Ridge (UCOR), a 2,200-person Department of Energy cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, to offer an enhanced 6-week parental bonding policy for both parents. But the leave policy was just one element of a deeper structural challenge: UCOR works a Monday through Thursday 10-hour shift, with every Friday off. While employees’ feedback consistently praise the 4/10 schedule for enhanced work/life balance, childcare can be a concern. In addition, many employees commute to work over an hour each way, combined with the 10-hour work schedule, childcare can be more than 12 hours each day (longer than most daycares will allow). Another compounding factor is that Anderson and Roane Counties have limited childcare options. So, there is cost, availability, and schedule misalignment.
The Solution
As a federal contractor, all UCOR benefits decisions must be approved by the government, which limits the company’s ability to offer stipends or build its own childcare facility. A workforce that ranges from office staff to craft workers traveling from distant communities means no single solution fits everyone. So UCOR layered multiple partial solutions, each addressing a different dimension of the problem.
The first layer is schedule flexibility: UCOR’s core hours run from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a four-day, 10-hour schedule, and that schedule can be a dealbreaker. So UCOR offers the option to switch to a five-day, 8-hour week. This 5-day option creates flexibility for young parents: less time in daycare and more time at home with their child. Parents can also adjust start and end times around drop-off and pickup: in instances where both parents work for UCOR, one parent starts early and leaves early while the other arrives later and stays later.
The second layer is the enhanced parental bonding leave policy: six weeks at 60% salary for both parents with the flexibility to supplement hours; stagger the leave between parents; or combine with PTO to extend the coverage.
The third layer is community partnership. UCOR has established a partnership with Emory Valley Center (EVC), which operates multiple childcare facilities in Oak Ridge. UCOR and other federal contractors receive preferential access to EVC’s Little Learning Lab facility. It’s not a guaranteed spot, but it’s a real advantage where availability, not just cost, is a constraint.
The Results
UCOR sees its efforts as essential to attracting and retaining skilled labor and nuclear talent and expertise in a growing region of East Tennessee. Young professionals now interview the company as much as they’re being interviewed, asking about flexibility, family support, and parental leave policies. In that conversation, UCOR has answers that many federal contractors don’t.
THE BLUEPRINT
Investment: The parental bonding leave costs 60% of salary for six weeks per parent. Flexible scheduling has no direct cost. The Emory Valley Center partnership provides access to existing community child care capacity without requiring UCOR to build or operate a facility.
Timeline: The parental bonding leave was implemented within one benefits cycle after leadership recognized the gap. Flexible scheduling options were already embedded in UCOR’s work structure. No construction or licensing was required for any component.
Partners: Emory Valley Center (community child care provider with preferential enrollment for federal contractors), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (built the Little Learning Lab facility that UCOR employees can also access).
Key Decision: Accepting that there is no single solution for a 2,200-person workforce spread across a wide geography with 10-hour shifts. Instead of waiting for a silver bullet, UCOR layered multiple partial solutions—leave policy, schedule flexibility, and community partnerships—that together address different segments of their workforce.
Their Advice: “It’s a business imperative to stay competitive. Young professionals are interviewing you now—asking what you’re doing for flexibility, for families.” —Ashley Saunders. “That working mom’s voice is very important. We offer qualities that you can’t afford to lose from the table. Supporting childcare keeps them in the workforce.” —Jill DeMella