Working Mother magazines comes out with their Top 100 best companies for working moms every year, and the newest list is just hot off the presses. (Here’s last year’s list. I will provide the newest one when it hits the web.)
But every year I wonder if the companies on the list are really as family friendly as they are touted as being.
This list includes the who’s who of Corporate America, and it may include companies that aren’t always stellar when it comes to being in working moms’ courts. At least that’s based on some of the emails I get from readers who ask me how they can deal with a boss who’s not giving them the flexibility they need at one of these firms.
While many of the companies on the list have great benefits when you look at their employee handbooks, those benefits don’t always work out in the real world.
Last year the Institute for Women’s Policy Research reported that nearly half of the so-called “best” companies did not provide any paid leave for paternity or adoption.
But I don’t want to just be negative here. At least we’re having this discussion, and these firms do realize they need to do something to help moms.
Are corporations doing enough? Does your company do enough? Share your own experience.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I call Working Mother’s October 100 best companies issue a “brochure.” All the information comes from the companies, NOT from employees, whose input is not required (except for hand-picked “success stories” from winning companies). Last year’s issue had advertisements from 64 of the winning companies. Overall, more than 80 of the companies advertise with Working Mother in some form or other.
The advertising relationship is just the beginning. Many of the companies have been sued for discriminatory practices against women (especially mothers), and some of those have resulted in court-ordered judgments. Most, if not all, of the “benefits” on the 100 best list are window dressing. I’ve just started going through this year’s list (and the hundreds of press releases), and much of it looks familiar. Here’s an article I wrote about last year’s list.
http://www.unitedprofessionals.org/blog/2007/02/23/100-best-companies-for-working-mothers-%e2%80%a6-are-they-really-the-best/
I’ll be writing more about this year’s list on my blog.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
this is something we need to investigate. many people take these lists as the bible on work/life balance. we need to know the reality.
September 27th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I’m looking into it and plan to write lots more. Stay tuned. I would love to hear from people who actually made work decisions based on this list … and what the outcome was.
September 30th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
i can’t imagine women make career decisions based on these lists, but you never know.