Magazine names top US employers for mums

Working mothers want flexibility and companies which recognise this are reaping big rewards through increased productivity, better employee loyalty and lower absenteeism, according to the US magazine Working Mother.

Working mothers want flexibility and companies which recognise this are reaping big rewards through increased productivity, better employee loyalty and lower absenteeism, according to the US magazine Working Mother.

It has just released its 2011 Working Mother 100 Best Companies report. Carol Evans, President of Working Mother Media, says: “The Working Mother 100 Best Companies allow employees to flex their day, their week, their year and their career. And these companies are benefitting in so many ways. Not only do they enhance loyalty and dedication among their employees with children, but their entire workforce has a high level of readiness and adaptability when disasters strike.”

The Working Mother 100 Best Companies are judged on answers to 650 questions, including data on the access and usage of flexible work arrangements, parental leave, childcare, health and wellness support and the advancement of women to all levels of management. The top ten scoring companies, which receive special recognition for scoring the highest on the application, are Bank of America, Deloitte, Discovery Communications, Ernst & Young, General Mills, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Financial, TriHealth and WellStar.

Jennifer Owens, Editorial Director of Working Mother, said: “The reason flexibility is so important to working moms is that they want to do their best at home and in the office.  Flexible work arrangements allow mums both. The Working Mother Best Companies want to win the war for talent and productivity – especially in a down economy – and they have figured out how to make flex work.”

Some of the flexible work arrangements offered by the Working Mother 100 Best Companies include:

– Flex coupons that allow workers to take paid time off in increments as short as two hours, rather than forcing parents to take a full day off for an after-school doctor’s visit

– The ability to shift start and stop times to fit commuting, childcare and elder care schedules

– Compressed work weeks that give workers longer weekends to attend to life and family needs

– Job sharing to split an all-consuming workload between two colleagues looking for more time for their kids or ageing parents

– On- and off-ramp programmes that let workers take long breaks away from work to bond with a baby or retrain while still maintaining professional connections, skills and even certifications for when they’re ready to return

– Automatic phase-back programmes that allow new mums to transition back to work on a temporary part-time schedule

– Options for employees to speed or slow their advancement without penalty to help them better balance work and home responsibilities.

* The Workingmums.co.uk Top Employer Awards, which recognise top employers in the UK, are announced on 5th October 2011 at the Soho Hotel in London.

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