Our Top Five B Corp Benefits
As a Certified B Corp, we are proud to be part of a global community of people using business as a force for good. B Corporations meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. In other words, we are focused on building a business and creating a culture that is good for our employees, our communities and the environment.
Becoming a B Corp is a rigorous process and requires evaluating everything we do — from internal transparency to the vendors we partner with to our employee benefits. In honor of B Corp Month, we wanted to share a few of the internal programs that have sprouted up at Brains on Fire on our B Corp journey:
Parental Leave Policy + Babies at Work
Nothing is more important than family. We want our employees to feel they have the support to grow their families in a way that works for them. Our Parental Leave Policy offers primary caregivers six weeks paid leave, while secondary caregivers receive two weeks paid leave. In addition, our Babies at Work program welcomes new parents to bring their infants to the office until they are six months old or crawling.
Good Time
It seems like everybody is talking about doing good these days. It’s one thing to talk about doing good, but it’s another to actually get out in the world and do some good. In order to ensure we are supporting our employees in doing good, we offer each person our team four paid on-the-clock volunteer hours each month. Not only does this create “built in” volunteer time, it gives our team members an opportunity to pay-it-forward to organizations and causes that matter most to them.
Emergency Loan Assistance
Life happens. From sudden medical expenses for your family or fur babies to new tires to roof leaks, the financial burdens of unexpected life events can also bring significant emotional stress. We started to ask ourselves what might happen if employers stepped up and provided an avenue for relief in these moments. At BOF, we have an Emergency Loan Assistance Program open to all employees (full-time or part-time) who have been with BOF for 6+ months and are in good standing. The program offers a $1,500 Emergency Loan for repayment over one year at a zero percent interest rate. This gives our team an option for better financial security in the event of an emergency or unplanned financial need. Our goals for financial stability at BOF include giving our creatives space to innovate without the weight of worrying about finances. This program is one small way we are able to provide a temporary income advance for team members when they need it most.
Remote Days + Jam Day
We love our office as much as the next agency, but also recognize that spending five days a week within the same set of walls can be draining when it comes to productivity and creativity. Tuesdays and Thursdays are remote work days for each member of our team. If you want to work from the office, have at it. But we also highly encourage a change of scenery be it a local coffee shop, a museum or your kitchen table. In addition, Thursdays are a mandatory “Jam Day” at BOF; our one blissful, meeting-free day a week to focus solely on getting things done.
The Game / Open Book Financial Management
One of our company’s golden rules includes taking ownership and giving a damn. You can’t take ownership of the financial side of a company if you aren’t fully informed and empowered to make calls on the big decisions. In 2016, we started practicing open book management, which means opening up our financials for review by the entire team. By empowering our team to be part of the financial matters of our business, we hoped to increase ownership and understanding of how our daily jobs impact the financial health and wellness of the company — and thereby impacting each of our wallets. We share our financial wins and losses as a team. When we meet goals, we receive bonuses, bank extra vacation and give back to nonprofits. As a result, employees feel a direct connection to our financial stability for the future.
Always and Forever a B Corp
Living out your values is so important when it comes to creating true, authentic culture. Part of living out our values at Brains on Fire meant changing our tax status to that of a Benefit Corporation. A traditional Corporation exists to serve the shareholders, while a Benefit Corporation exists for reasons that go beyond just maximizing value to the shareholders. Brains on Fire now has legal Benefit Corporation status, which means we will forever adhere to the B Corp values. March may be the official B Corp Month, but we think the other 11 are just as important when it comes to living our B Corp values. This is the beginning of a lifelong journey for our company, our culture and our community — and we couldn’t be happier about it.
Interested in learning more about how your company can become a B Corporation? Click here.
