A reader encouraged me to look at the issue of maternity leave as a larger issue of work-life balance in the work place following my recent post regarding whether or not maternity leave should be on the CSR agenda. I turned to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For 2011 to see if it addressed work-life balance issues and was interested to find that Fortune also ranks best companies by best benefits, and specifically work-life balance.
Following are the the top 10 Best Companies where employees feel “encouraged to balance their work and personal life” in 2011.
| Work-life Rank | Company | Best Companies rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SAS | 1 |
| 2 | Recreational Equipment (REI) | 9 |
| 3 | MITRE | 96 |
| 4 | Scottrade | 12 |
| 5 | Wegmans Food Markets | 3 |
| 6 | Camden Property Trust | 7 |
| 7 | Johnson Financial Group | 46 |
| 8 | Build-A-Bear Workshop | 48 |
| 9 | Edward Jones | 11 |
| 10 | The Methodist Hospital System | 19 |
SAS also ranked both #1 in overall best company to work for and #1 company for work-life balance in 2010 and 2009.
SAS boasts the following on its website:
“At SAS, we understand the importance of leading a well-balanced life and meeting family needs and obligations. We offer the following benefits to help you maintain this balance:
- Dependent Care Flexible
- Spending Accounts
- Domestic Partner Benefits
- Adoption Assistance
- Family Medical Leave
- Family Sick Days
- Paid Paternity Leave
- Flexible Work Schedules (subject to manager’s approval)
- Subsidized, On-Site Child Care Centers in Cary for children of employees with at least one year of service (as space is available) and subsidized child care in regional offices. Eligibility is based on seniority, and there is normally a waiting list for this popular and valuable benefit.
- Competitively priced, on-site Summer Camp in Cary for school-age children
- College Scholarship Program to encourage the education and careers of children of SAS employees
- Work/Life Resources available to assist employees with a variety of family-related issues”
Seeing as SAS provides paid paternity leave, I wonder where they stand on paid maternity leave; a benefit not specifically addressed on its benefits page.
What is certain is that SAS is doing something right, being one of the Best Companies for the 14 years that Fortune has been counting.
Hopefully this specific work-life balance ranking can help me and my readers choose a firm that is happy to address the issues important to us as family-oriented employees.
Image Credit: CWA Union via flickr under CC license.
Your post is like an appetizer; now I want the entree. How can a company that ranks #3 in “work-life balance” rank #96 in “best companies?” What does it take besides work-life balance to be a good place to work? What else do employees value? I think the answers to those questions would be very instructive.