The Progressive Employers of Canada List considers nominations from professional women across Canada. To be considered a progressive employer the companies needed to offer a supportive environment for working parents including:
- Access to emergency childcare
- Lactation Rooms
- Flex-time
- On-site daycare
- Part-time or Contract Positions
- Maternity and parental leave top-up
- Health benefits
Family Friendly Companies - Top Canadian Companies A-M for 2009
- BC Hydro
- Biblioteca Inc - Technical Library Consulting
- Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
- City of Vancouver
- Deloitte & Touche LLP
- Ernst & Young LLP
- Flight Centre
- Habañero Consulting Group
- IBM Canada
- Kraft Canada
- LIJA
- McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group
- Microsoft Canada Development Centre
Family Friendly Companies - Top Canadian Companies N-Z for 2009
- Nannies on Call
- Next Level Games
- Nurse Next Door
- Please Mum
- Prema Sai and Prema Sai Prenatal in Calgary
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- RBC
- Salmon Arm Savings & Credit Union
- Savvy Mom
- TD Bank Financial Group
- TELUS
- Vancity
- Webnames.ca
- WestJet
- WorkSafeBC
- YWCA Vancouver
On-Site Day Care Facilities
The National Conference of State Legislatures put out a report stating employers cite child-care issues as causing more problems than any other family-related issue in the workplace. The report also shows companies who sponsor on-site child care are seeing morale improve, a reduction in turnover and absenteeism and increased productivity.
A cost-benefit study conducted by Cynthia Ransom and Sandra Burud in Pasadena, California at the Union Bank showed that the institute's on-site day-care program saved the company $138,000 to $232,000 in annual operations costs due to reduction in both turnover and absenteeism.
Lactation Room Requirements
An adequate lactation room should be a private room, not a bathroom, and must have the following features according to Columbia University:
- A door that locks from the inside and coded keypad or other arranged access to the room.
- A comfortable chair that provides sufficient back support and sized so that an average woman's feet can touch the floor.
- An electrical outlet for plugging in a breast pump.
- A table, on which to rest a breast pump and other supplies.
- Close proximity to a sink, ideally in the same room.
Benefits for Nursing Moms Expressing Breast Milk in a Lactation Room
Having a lactation room available for nursing mothers ensures a private space for a mother to express breast milk without having to ask managers or direct supervisors to use their office space. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, breastfed babies have fewer allergies, respiratory infections, ear infections, and serious diseases, such as diabetes. Breastfeeding also keeps mothers healthier, including a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancers.
When long term goals include increasing productivity, increasing employee retention and improving morale, keeping family friendly benefits in mind can be a great way to achieve them. Several family friendly benefits can be implemented without huge budgetary costs and can fit into short term goals of the company.
W Denis Nurmela - - Built multi-million $ companies from scratch - Church & Non-Profit Leader - Educated & Avid Reader - Coach, Consultant, ...
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