100 Best Companies 2008: Meet This Year's Winners
October 1, 2008
Costs to employers are rising, but so are benefits at our 100 Best Companies, with 57 firms reporting increased budgets for work/life programs last year. Where’s that money going? The answers are as varied as our 100 Best: Nearly 90 percent sponsor backup child care, while 45 percent offer on-site child care.
Our winners are strong believers in paid sick leave for all employees, full-time and part-time (89 percent), as well as phase-back programs for new moms (88 percent) and paid time off to volunteer (80 percent). These stellar employers know it’s not just about offering great programs but about making sure they have a culture that promotes these programs. That’s why 54 of our winning companies tie managers’ pay to women’s advancement rates—and five even penalize managers whose staffers don’t take their vacations. From adoption assistance (93 percent) and fertility treatment reimbursements (82 percent) to telecommuting and flextime (both 100 percent), these progressive companies are working hard to help working mothers—and their families—succeed.
Merck & Co.
Location: Whitehouse Station, NJ
What they do: Develop and market pharmaceuticals
Employees: 29,177
Women: 15,046
Women managers/execs: 3,197
Women among top earners: 35%
Women on board of directors: 23%
Chairman, President & CEO: Richard T. Clark
Chief Diversity Officer: Deborah Dagit
Flex Ability The full slate of alternative work options offered by this pharmaceutical company had a major impact on the quality of work done last year, say 87% of female employees surveyed.
Grooming Leaders Women are steadily making their way into the uppermost ranks, filling 62% of open management positions in 2007. More than a fifth of female staffers regularly participate in leadership training.
Child-Care Cheer Four on-site child-care centers in Rahway and Whitehouse Station, NJ, and in Landsdale and Upper Gwynedd, PA, care for 857 employee infants and children, with 15% of the cost subsidized by the firm.
Outstanding Program College Coach helps parents and their teens wrangle college applications, showing them how to find the best schools, fill out paperwork and come up with tuition. Parents of younger children can attend workshops to learn how to save for the future.
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