Contact:
Ila Tyagi, The Rosen Group
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25 Years (and Counting!)
– Groundbreaking Initiative Continues to Inspire Change and Diverse Benefits that Revolutionize Work/Life Balance for Moms & their Families –
New York, NY (September 14, 2010)—Celebrating its silver anniversary this year, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies initiative has set the bar for forward-thinking, family-friendly workplace policies for a quarter-century. Today, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies offer better benefits than ever before, eclipsing their counterparts nationwide. With 70 percent of mothers working—and women outnumbering men in the workplace for the first time in U.S. history—working moms have come a long way.
“Twenty-five years ago, we made a bold decision to launch our Best Companies initiative and challenge businesses to address the unique needs of working mothers,” said Carol Evans, President, Working Mother Media. “The immense influx of women into the workforce demanded changes in workplace culture as companies strove to keep working moms’ talent and loyalty. Today, we celebrate our winners’ untiring commitment to their employees through an impressive array of programs.”
While the Working Mother 100 Best Companies continue expanding their benefits, those at companies nationwide° lag. Just 44 percent of American companies offer telecommuting (vs. 100 percent of the 100 Best), 17 percent offer formal mentoring (vs. 95 percent), and 37 percent offer health insurance for part-timers (vs. 100 percent). 49 percent of employers offered flextime last year, down from 54 percent the prior year. In contrast, all of the 100 Best Companies offer paid maternity leave, lactation rooms, flextime, mental health consultations and elder-care resources; and 98 percent offer health screening and wellness programs—particularly significant in a stress-inducing, poor economy.
Improvements in these companies’ offerings to working-family employees include:
THEN: Six weeks of partially-paid maternity leave
NOW: Six to 14 weeks at full pay, with pre-maternity leaves and new-mom phase-back
THEN: Four percent of Best Companies offered paternity leave
NOW: 75 percent of Best Companies offer paternity leave
THEN: Seven Best Companies offered on-site childcare
NOW: 99 Best Companies offer a range of services including backup child-care, sick childcare, before- and after-school care and summer camps for kids
THEN: Stress reduction programs
NOW: Fully-staffed medical centers at 63 percent, fitness centers at 78 percent and exercise classes at 80 percent of Best Companies
“There’s been a dramatic change in America’s mindset,” said Suzanne Riss, Editor in Chief, Working Mother. “In 1986, women didn’t acknowledge the fact that they were a mom at work for fear of being ‘mommy tracked.’ Today, moms have photos of their kids on their desks because companies recognize that moms make high-achieving, loyal and ambitious employees. What’s more, other employee groups – including dads and people with aging parents – have benefited from the policies promoted by the 100 Best.”
The Working Mother 100 Best Companies employ dynamic programs that adeptly help employees in all areas of their lives. Employees who want to learn how to build a nest egg in a cracked economy can benefit from Prudential Financial’s one-on-one budget coaching. Intel supplies employees and their children and grandchildren with homework help via a tutoring hotline. And employees at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey work with a former stand-up comedian to learn how humor can reduce stress, as part of a five-year program focused on education, exercise and overall well-being.
Profiles of the 100 Best Companies, as well as national comparisons, are in the October issue of Working Mother and at workingmother.com/bestcompanies.
THE 2010 WORKING MOTHER 100 BEST COMPANIES
*Indicates a Top 10 winning company
־ Indicates a company on the list for all 25 years
Abbott
Accenture
Allstate Insurance Company
American Electric Power
American Express Company
AOL
Arnold & Porter LLP
AstraZeneca
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Bain & Company, Inc.
Bank of America*
Baptist Health South Florida
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical USA
Bon Secours Richmond Health System
Booz Allen Hamilton
The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bronson Healthcare Group, Inc.
Capital One Financial Corporation
Carlson Companies
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Cisco
Citi
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Covington & Burling LLP
Credit Suisse
Dell Inc.
Deloitte*
Deutsche Bank
Diageo North America
Discovery Communications*
Dow Corning Corporation
DuPont
Eli Lilly and Company
Ernst & Young*
Fannie Mae
FINRA
First Horizon National Corporation
First National Bank
Freddie Mac
Genentech
General Electric Company
General Mills*
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Grant Thornton LLP
Hallmark Cards, Inc.
HCA Virginia Health System – Richmond Market
Hewitt Associates LLC
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
HP
IBM Corporation* ־
Intel
Johnson & Johnson ־
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Kellogg Company
KPMG LLP*
Kraft Foods, Inc.
LEGO Systems, Inc.
March of Dimes Foundation
Marriott International, Inc.
MasterCard Worldwide
McGladrey
The McGraw-Hill Companies
McKinsey & Company
Merck & Co., Inc.
Mercy Health System
MetLife, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Moffitt Cancer Center
Monsanto Company
Morgan Stanley
National Education Association
New York Life Insurance Company
Northern Trust Corporation
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare
Novo Nordisk Inc.
Patagonia, Inc.
Pearson Inc.
Pfizer Inc.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
The PNC Financial Services Group
PricewaterhouseCoopers*
The Principal Financial Group
Procter & Gamble
Prudential Financial, Inc.
sanofi-aventis U.S.
SC Johnson
Scripps Health
Texas Instruments Incorporated
TriHealth, A Partnership of Bethesda and Good Samaritan
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics*
VCU Health System
Verizon Communications Inc.
WellPoint, Inc.
WellStar Health System*
Wyndham Worldwide
Yale University
Yale-New Haven Hospital
The Working Mother 100 Best Companies are invited to celebrate their success at the Working Mother 100 Best Companies WorkLife Congress, October 26-28, 2010, at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in New York City.
Methodology:
Companies were selected for the 2010 Working Mother 100 Best Companies based on an extensive application with more than 600 questions on workforce, compensation, child care, flexibility programs, leave policies and more. It also surveys the usage, availability and tracking of programs, as well as the accountability of managers who oversee them. Seven areas were measured and scored: workforce profile, benefits, women’s issues and advancement, child care, flexible work, parental leave and company culture. For this year’s 100 Best, particular weight was given to benefits, flexibility and parental leave.
For more information on applying for the 2011 Working Mother 100 Best Companies, visit http://www.wmmsurveys.com. The 2011 online application will be available in mid-December and due by early March 2011. All companies that apply, including those that don’t make the 100 Best list, receive feedback showing how they compare with all other applicants.
About Working Mother Media
Working Mother magazine reaches 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; WorkingMother.com brings to the Web home and career information, advice and a broad range of solutions daily. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Working Mother’s signature research initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, the most important benchmark for work-life practices in corporate America. Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corp. (http://www.bonnier.com), includes the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE, http://www.nafe.com), Diversity Best Practices (http://www.diversitybestpractices.com), the WorkLife Congress and the Multicultural Women’s Conference and Leadership Summits. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change.
°National statistics are taken from a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management.
