SAGINAW, Mich. — While some companies frown upon parents and children as co-workers, Catholic Federal Credit Union has no problem hiring employees from the same family. In fact three members of one family work at the same branch.
Kelly Prast first joined the $330-million asset CU in 1985 as a teller at its State Street location here. She has a combined total of 23 years at Catholic Federal Credit Union
And up until 11 years ago, she was the only member of her family to work at CFCU. But then her father, Byron "Spike" Weber came on board.
"My dad was retired and I thought he might be able to spend a few hours a day fixing things for us here at the credit union," Prast said. "I thought it might be fun to see my dad at work now and then, but he's been here over a decade now and I love it."
Weber said that his job as the maintenance coordinator at Catholic Federal has been even more enjoyable than the job he worked at for more than 30 years. Part of his job description is to keep the company vehicles maintained, fix broken office equipment, assemble toys for the marketing department and take care of homes repossessed through foreclosures.
"I had no idea my retirement job would keep me so busy," Weber said. "I love coming to work and when I come in and see my daughter's smiling face it makes it even better."
Some companies have strict rules on hiring family members, but, Jerry Heard, a labor and employment attorney in San Diego said there are no laws on the books that explicitly forbid it.
Alan Watson, manager and CEO of CFCU said his credit union is all about families, so why not hire them?
Level of Trust and Confidence
"I can recall 10 different examples of more than one person from the same family employed here at Catholic Federal over the years." Watson said. " There are several in this group that have proven to be career-long credit union staff that helped build Catholic Federal into what it is today. But more than anything it speaks to the level of trust and confidence our employees have in our mission to recommend Catholic Federal as a great place to work to another family member."
Recently, a third family member joined the workforce at CFCU — Holly Prast, Kelly's daughter and Weber's granddaughter.
Holly started her human resources internship in August and is continuing her education at Delta Community College.
"It's so fun to see my mom and my grandfather here at work," she said. "We don't live in a huge city, but most of my friends don't see their family as much as I do."
Holly she recently moved from her family's farm — where her parents live within walking distance of her grandparents.
"We saw each other all the time when I lived so close to everyone," she said. "But now I work with them so it's like I never left home."
All three family members say they enjoy the closeness of working side-by-side and never run out of things to discuss.
"It's great to come to work and be with the people you love," Weber said.
