Benefits September 23, 2003

Eli Lilly Tops Working Mothers' Best Companies List

September 23, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Work/life balances such as flexible scheduling, a variety of child-care offerings and job guarantees for new moms on leave has landed Eli Lilly at the top of Working Mother magazine's 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers List.
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Striking the proper work/life balance is important for companies looking to make the list.“These companies are very committed to work/life programs for their employees despite the tough economic conditions,” said Jill Kirschenbaum, editor-in-chief of Working Mother, in a statement. In Eli Lilly’s case, employees are allowed to compress their work week into four long days, or three long and two short days.

Joining the pharmaceutical company in the top 10 were:

  • Abbott Laboratories
  • Booz Allen Hamilton
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Fannie Mae
  • General Mills
  • IBM
  • Prudential Financial
  • S.C. Johnson and Sons
  • Wachovia

Working Mother sees the representation on their list as having certain work/life programs in much more prevalence than others. For example, nearly half (47%) of the list sponsor sick-child care versus the national average of only 7% and 44% offer before/after school care compared with only 4% nationwide. Other differentials were found in programs offered at a greater ratio among those companies on the list than the national averages, such as:

  • 100%–flextime (55% nationally)
  • 99%– employee assistance program (67% nationally)
  • 98%– elder-care resources and referral services (20% nationally)
  • 96%– child care resource and referral services (18% nationally)
  • 94%– compressed workweeks (31% nationally)
  • 93%– job sharing (22% nationally)
  • 77%– therapeutic massages (11% nationally)
  • 39%– paid paternity leave (12% nationally)
  • 27%– paid maternity leave beyond the short-term disability period (14% nationally).

Additionally, Working Mother rated certain companies as the best in their class, such asLiz Claiborne topping the charts for representation of women based on the fact that over three quarters of Liz Claiborne’s total workforce is female: 79% of managers, 64% of executives and 51% of corporate execs. Other best in class winners included Booz Allen Hamilton for advancing women, JPMorgan Chase for total compensation, IBM Corporate for child care, S.C. Johnson & Son for flexibility and Wachovia Corporation for family-friendly/company culture.

Services such as these helped 17companies that were new to the list for 2003. Among them:

  • Harvard University
  • Lego Systems
  • Microsoft
  • Sallie Mae
  • UBS Investment Bank
  • Accenture.

A complete list of Working Mother magazine’s 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers can be found at http://www.workingwoman.com/100BestList.shtml .

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