(FORTUNE Magazine) – David Harris and Kimberly Ratekin have been married 14 years. They have two daughters and a newborn son. Still, with the help of their employer, the South San Francisco biotech firm Genentech, they are dating again...each other, of course.

Ever since Genentech's on-site day-care center introduced Date Night--nighttime care to give working parents a kid-free night--couples like David and Kimberly have been enjoying movies and intimate dinners together. "Date Night is basically the only way we get out," says David, a quality-control manager. "It doesn't really matter what we do. It's a night we get to have adult talk and concentrate on each other."

The company's full-service, subsidized day-care center, 2nd Generation, was an oddity when it opened 11 years ago. It remains one of the largest corporate day-care facilities in the nation, with 13 classrooms, outdoor playgrounds, and a staff of 70 who care for 254 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years.

Once every three months, the center stays open until 10 P.M. for Date Night. About 50 children romp in their pajamas, eat pizza, and play games. The slumber party atmosphere makes the event almost as popular with the children as with the parents. (David and Kimberly have missed only one Date Night since the practice started in 1995; their kids made such a fuss that they swore never to miss another.)

The night costs parents $20 for one child and $16 for additional siblings, which many parents say is cheaper and more convenient than trying to find a babysitter. Still, the fee covers only about half the cost of staffing the center for four extra hours. The company seems to feel it's worth it. "Our employees work really hard when they are here because they don't have to worry that their home life is out of control," says Judy Heyboer, senior VP of human resources.

In fact, when their son, Stuart, was 6 months old, Keith and Locelia Purdy found themselves alone together for the first time since his birth, thanks to Date Night. Three years later the couple have turned it into a tradition--taking off the entire day to spend together.

Genentech's Date Nights have become so popular that once the e-mail announcement goes out, it usually takes less than three minutes for all the spaces to be filled. Says Becki Filice, mother of two: "Our first few Date Nights, my husband and I kept running into other Genentech couples at restaurants in town." Well, Genentech promises only a night away from the kids, not from co-workers.

--Cora Daniels