Fortune magazine’s annual list of “Best Companies to Work For” is out, honoring “dream” employers that offer “fat paychecks, sweet perks, fun colleagues, and over 70,000 jobs ready to be filled.”
From the benefits side, here’s what you need to do to emulate or compete with this year’s winners:
- Pay for health care. Fourteen companies on this year's list got exceptional marks for paying 100% of their employees' health care premiums. That’s just over 10% of all companies on the list.
- Provide child care. Dream employers were more generous with child care help. Nearly a third of “Best Companies” offer an onsite child care center. The cost to employees varies widely, with the most generous subsidy being $130/month for employees at Publix Super Market.
- Emphasize work-life balance. Companies deemed the best for work-life balance are those that walk the talk and encourage employees to balance their focus on and off the job. Leading the list in this category is SAS Institute in Cary, N.C., which supports employees with subsidized Montessori child care, unlimited sick time, intramural sports leagues and a free health care center, among other benefits.
- Send employees on sabbaticals. Nearly a quarter of the companies on this year's list offer fully paid sabbaticals.
- Dare to be different. Non-traditional benefits speak volumes about company culture. Here are Fortune’s choices for the most unusual perks by Best Companies to Work For.
- Google – Nap pods
- Wegmans Food Markets – Coupons for Christmas
- NetApp – Volleyball courts
- Zappos.com – Hero employees
- Alston & Bird – Learn Spanish
- Southern Ohio Medical Center – Onsite vegetable garden
- PricewaterhouseCoopers – Mentor moms
- Autodesk – Girls night out
- FactSet Research Systems – Monthly BBQs
- Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts – Free rooms
- GoDaddy.com – Panning for gold
- Schweitzer Engineering Labs -- $80 per paycheck for education
Read about all 100 of the 2012 Best Companies to Work
The benefits executives from four of Fortune’s 2011 “Best Companies” shared their programs and philosophies at EBN’s Benefits Forum & Expo last fall. Watch our
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