We previously scoped out the top companies for women to work at in 2018 as part of our Leading Ladies series. To rank the companies we took into account the percentage of female executives at each company and their position on the top companies for women and working families list by Forbes and Fairy God Boss. We decided to dive a layer deeper and focus on the benefits currently being offered at these companies.
More than maternity leave
Only offering a short maternity leave for mothers to be, new moms, and families trying to grow is a thing of the past, and companies are catching on. Maternity leave is extremely important, don’t get us wrong, and companies like Starbucks are increasing their maternity leave package to include full salary and extended time options. A growing trend among companies is to add new perks to their current packages like freezing eggs, shipping milk, and various treatments to help the pregnancy process.
Companies who are leading
Johnson & Johnson now offers extended fertility treatment benefits to same-sex couples, upped reimbursements for surrogacy and adoption. Their Chief Human Resources Officer, Peter Fasolo says they made it a priority to "be a leader in this space." Taking care of employees and offering these benefits will cost far less than health insurance in the long run because benefits are used by a minority of workers, and generally on a one-time or short-term basis. Companies alongside Johnson & Johnson that are revolutionizing benefits packages include, Goldman Sachs and Clif Bar. Both offer programs for new mothers who are breastfeeding to ship breast milk when they’re traveling. In these ranks is also Turner Broadcasting, that offers their employees egg-freezing assistance programs.
Down to the numbers
Companies are slowly ramping up their benefits and while it is a huge step forward from the options offered in the past, only 27% of companies cover in vitro fertilization treatment, as well as varying adoption or surrogacy benefits according to Society for Human Resource Management. Of the 27%, 17% offer adoption leave, and 5% offer paid leave for parents having a child through a surrogate, but these offerings usually take the form of paid leave, not reimbursement.
What women want
What benefits does your company currently offer for women and new and growing families? What would you like to see more companies offer? It’s important to get this conversation started to be able to bring awareness and increase the commonality of these benefits. Leading Ladies is a series focused on providing women with information they can use while they navigate their careers – from job search recommendations to understanding their worth and setting compensation goals, to advice from our own team of powerful female leaders.
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