The magazine Working Mother released its list of the 100 best employers. Although for-profit companies dominated the top rankings, three academic medical centers rated highly. University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, and Yale-New Haven Hospital have made family-friendly policies a priority.
Magazine editors looked for several programs that support working mothers:
- Flex coupons that allow workers to take paid time off in increments
- The ability to shift start and stop times
- Compressed workweeks
- Job sharing
- On- and off-ramp programs
- Options for employees to speed or slow their advancement without penalty
Some of the hospitals’ innovations include:
- subsidized care for elderly relatives
- on-site daycare
- benefits for adopting children
- college counseling for children of employees
- legal and financial seminars
It’s telling that financial services companies figure highly on the list. Their commitment to flexible work policies should be a model for academic institutions keen on retaining faculty.