AMERICAN FORK, Utah -- Expectant mothers can fork out a lot of cash on their growing wardrobe. For those who work in an office setting, the pressure to find suitable and affordable clothes can be overwhelming. A local company is trying to make thing easier for their employees by giving them gift cards worth $2,000 to buy maternity clothes.
Managers at Domo say with a young workforce – average age is 34- who has growing families, it makes good business sense.
Michelle Rowell is an assistant to the CEO of Domo, a business management software company based in American Fork. Her role requires her to dress up every day.
When Rowell was pregnant with her son a year ago, her boss Josh James, rolled out a new policy: expectant mothers would receive a $2,000 for a maternity wardrobe.
“I’ve worked for Josh for almost nine years and he’s really big on families,” Rowell said.
Employees are awarded a $1,000 Nordstrom gift card, $500 to online clothing store Asos.com, and $500 to Pea in the Pod.
Rowell said weight gain while working hurt her confidence.
“Your body is changing it’s really a strange thing so it’s nice to feel like I had nice things to wear to work and that made me feel better about myself,” she said.
On top of that, looking professional isn’t cheap.
“Some maternity jeans, if you want them to fit really well $150. Even some dresses depending where you find them might be $75,” Rowell said.
Mercede Koning is expecting her first child in December, a girl.
She didn’t expect to add to her professional wardrobe early on in her pregnancy.
“In the beginning, I like tried to squeeze into all of my clothes,” Koning said.
Koning is taking full advantage of this benefit and says it’s paying off.
“I just feel so much more comfortable at work now that I`m able to buy a lot of new clothes,” she said.
The benefit falls in line with their maternity and paternity leave they offer employees. Women are given one month leave with full pay, new dads get two weeks off with full pay.
Domo employs 600 people. Leaders say because they’re a smaller company, they have to be more creative with benefits to attract and retain employees.
