At Rembrandt Foods, like many egg and poultry producers, operations run 24/7.
"We have a stage one and stage two (shift). On our stage two side we are facing issues with day cares being available at our opening time. Our shifts are from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. If we have an employee that works on day shift, they're having issues finding a day care that'll open at 4 a.m. or you know between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.," said Ann Sassman, human resource generalist with Rembrandt Foods, during the "Childcare Panel Discussion" hosted by the Iowa Poultry Association Issues Conference on February 16.
Employees that work the night shift also struggle to find nighttime care. This results in employees having to rely on family members or friends to watch their children if they work the night shift as there are no day cares open at night, Sassman explained.
In many cases, both parents work at Rembrandt. One parent will work the day shift, and the other parent will work the night shift, eliminating the need for child care. "This can be an issue because they don't have that family time together because they're working on opposite shifts," she said.
Another issue at Rembrandt is that they have breakdowns with machines. "That means that our barn workers and are breaking plant personnel might not get off their scheduled shift on time," said Sassman.
Breaking plant employees start their shift at 6 a.m., and sometimes, in the instance where there is a breakdown, they work till 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., occasionally later if need be.
Those employees have to figure out who can watch their children after the day care closes.
"As we all know, chickens never stop laying eggs, which means we work weekends as well. Day cares are not open on the weekends. So, again, our employees are relying on family and friends to watch their children at times. We also work holidays and this as well is difficult because, again, they're having their children watched by family members or friends," she said.
Rembrandt Foods is approximately 20 miles from Storm Lake, Iowa, where most of its employees live. The company itself is located in the country outside of the city where day care is scarce and/or hard to get to.
"Right now, we have a daycare center in Storm Lake that is having issues finding a place to house the day care. COVID has had them pretty hard, and the funding is not up to what they need to be to find a place to have the day care," she explained.
Mitigating the stress of work and home
Rembrandt Foods runs a schedule it refers to as a three four schedule. "This means that the employees will work three days, one week, and then four days the next week. This provides that employee with the home life balance that we want them to have," said Sassman.
This schedule also minimizes the number of days employees have to pay for child care or find help each week.
"Day cares are expensive. We provide our employees with reasonable pay, but having them work 12-hour shifts can make the day care payment amount unreasonable," she said.
Overall, limited day care availability in the Rembrandt area creates a challenge for its employees and the company is searching for a solution.
"We are currently looking for ways to help the area communities with the day care shortage," said Sassman. She added that the company is also looking to staff a 24-hour day care center closer to the company for employees to utilize.
