Month: August 2022

For the past 20 years, the share of female laborers in the U.S. has hovered around 47%. It’s a significant statistic for many reasons, particularly when you learn that the majority of working women (60% or higher) also have a child under the age of three years at home (per the most recent published data from the U.S. Department of Labor). In 2010, in response to the growing number of female employees within the workforce, the federal government amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to include accommodations for nonexempt, lactating mothers. Currently, all businesses with more than 50 nonexempt employees must provide a private space for mothers to pump breast milk. It cannot be a bathroom and must include a variety of features designed to support breastfeeding women. Many states extend this type of protection to exempt employees, as well, making mothers’ rooms a very common and often necessary feature in today’s office buildings. Check out the potential benefits of creating a workplace mother’s room:

Improved Employee Morale

Let’s face it: employees appreciate support. Under FLSA protection, lactating employees are able to return to work and still express breast milk for their babies. They don’t have to choose one over the other. For up to one year following the birth of a child, new mothers can expect time in a quiet, private space to pump while at the office. Not only do new moms feel valued, but coworkers become aware of the scope of their employer’s provisions, making it much more likely that the morale of all employees will be improved.

Less Absenteeism

A dedicated mother’s room also helps to keep mother and baby healthy. Research shows that breastfed babies have stronger immune systems and, thus, are better protected against illness and disease. And if they do get sick, breastfed babies recover more quickly. Studies go on to indicate that breastfeeding mothers are less susceptible to certain physical and mental health issues, as well, reducing the need for new moms (as well as any parenting partners) to miss work due to their own illnesses or those of their babies.

Reduction of Healthcare Costs

The health benefits of breastfeeding for both mom and baby also helps reduce company healthcare costs. Breastfeeding mothers have a lower risk of certain cancers and a reduced incidence of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, all of which can drive up the price that companies pay for insurance over the lifetime of all mothers. A mother’s room enables a mother to protect her own health and her child’s, thereby decreasing the need for each one’s healthcare services and the burden of their associated costs.

Better Employee Retention

In many instances, a mother’s room actually draws women back to work following maternity leave since they know they will be able to continue providing breast milk for their children in a private, comfortable space when away from their homes.

Improved Productivity

Finally, with improved morale, less absenteeism and more available workers, companies are more equipped to get the things that need to be done, done! Their workers are more engaged, energetic and focused and, therefore, more productive.

The Key Interiors Advantage

Providing a lactation or mother’s room is mandatory for many businesses. Even if it’s not, the benefits it offers to both lactating women and the companies that employ them make a mother’s room an important aspect of a commercial office’s design. Our team at Key Interiors can help your office create a mother’s room that is functional, stylish and affordable. Please contact us to learn more.

On the surface, an office remodel might seem like a daunting and high-cost endeavor, especially to those undertaking one for the first time.  However, with the right features and design, an office remodel can improve your business productivity, increase your profitability, and infuse your people and workspace with much-needed energy, making it well worth the effort and expense. Take a look at some of the benefits of an office remodel:

Improved Productivity

An office remodel is the best way to rearrange the layout of your office for enhanced productivity. For instance, office noise is often cited as the number one distraction in a workplace. It can be a significant drain on overall productivity, since the inability to focus not only leads to a decrease in cognitive performance, it contributes to workplace absences due to the effects of long-term stress exposure. Reconfiguring your space as part of an office remodel could result in reduced noise level. Other functional layout details of your office can be similarly altered to maximize the quality and amount of work being done on-site. You could add private offices, access to natural light and communal areas, or create a layout that requires movement throughout the day (creating a single, dedicated space for copying and printing, for example, would make it necessary for people to get up from their desks periodically). All of these office features have been shown to positively influence employee productivity.

Attract Talent and Customers

A fresh, clean, functional space attracts people. Nobody wants to come to an office with dirty flooring, out-dated, 80s-era cubicles, or a bunch of fluorescent lighting! Prospective employees and clients want to enter a commercial space that is comfortable and inviting. They want to spend time in a space that appropriately accommodates the work being done within its walls. An office remodel allows you to modernize your business, update its layout, keep its decor stylish and highlight features that make it comfortable to both work in and visit. All these upgrades make the office environment attractive to current and prospective employees and customers.

Maximize Safety and Security

Of course, an office remodel is sometimes needed to ensure the safety and security of all your office’s occupants. With a complete office remodel, you can make upgrades to security, fire, and life safety systems. You can also remove old, faulty or unsafe wiring, address air quality and ventilation issues and improve your building’s accessibility. Lastly, you can resolve problems that have kept your office from being up to code, remove hazardous materials (like asbestos), install adequate lighting and bring in ergonomic furniture. There is a wide range of features you can choose to add or eliminate during an office remodel that significantly improves occupant safety and the security of the building itself.

The Key Interiors Difference

To learn more about these and other benefits of an office remodel, please contact our design team at Key Interiors. Our decades of experience with office design and construction means we can help navigate our clients through multifaceted projects with efficiency and help them integrate solutions and features that will improve the functionality of their offices and lead to a positive ROI!