The results of the 2012 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® are in! Reviewing the aggregate data for the past five year’s list makers (2007-2011) and comparing it to the 2012 data, several trends did indeed emerge…
Employee Sabbaticals
Last week I mentioned that the Best Companies have been increasing the amount of paid time off provided to employees- through holiday and vacation pay and employee sabbaticals. Employee paid time off increased by one day in 2012. Additionally, 3 more companies on the list now offer paid sabbaticals to their employees. This brings the total number of companies to provide this benefit to 24! While this is still only a quarter of Best Companies, sabbaticals are definitely a trend to keep an eye on.
Dependent Care
Another interesting trend mentioned last week is an increase in the number of companies offering financial aid to employees adopting children. More and more companies are also offering domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. Both of these trends continued into 2012; seventy-three of the Best Companies offer financial aid to those adopting a child, and of those that do, the average amount provided was a little over $5,000. Eighty-nine Best Companies now offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. We predict that it won’t be long before these benefits are the norm!
Additionally, we saw a pretty big jump in the number of Best Companies subsidizing child care. Six more companies have jumped on the band wagon since last year, for a total of 35 companies now offering subsidized care for employee tots. This might not be the norm yet, but it is definitely a trend on the rise.
Retirement
Every last one of the 100 Best offers their employees a 410k or 403b retirement plan, same as last year. But do they automatically enroll their employees? More and more do each year; fifty-eight of the 2012 list winners automatically enroll their employees, compared to only 28 companies back in 2007. If the trend continues at this rate, all employees of Best Companies will automatically be better prepared for their retirement in under a decade.
Is your company a trend setter? Tell us about it!
Tiffany Barber is the Associate Manager of Marketing and Communications and guest blogger for Great Place to Work®.
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