Helping employees with families of all shapes and sizes: 'Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers' for 2023 are announced

TORONTO, Feb. 9, 2023 /CNW/ - A baby crying audibly offscreen. An excited toddler bursting into the frame during an important video call. After more than two years of working from home, most employers have become more familiar with the family and home situations of many employees – and this, in turn, has made many employers aware of how to help with a wider variety of pressing demands from family life. The best of these initiatives were recognized today, as the this year's winners of Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers were announced by Mediacorp Canada Inc., organizers of the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers project.

Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers (2023) (CNW Group/Mediacorp Canada Inc.)

"Families come in all shapes and sizes, so progressive employers know their employees have varying needs when it comes to looking after family commitments," says Kristina Leung, managing editor at Mediacorp. "This year's winners have made their programs and policies more flexible to accommodate different family structures, ensuring support exists during various pathways to parenthood, and beyond, to caring for family members in the later stages of life."

Employers recognized this year provide forward-thinking benefits for employees who are interested in starting families, from financial support for fertility treatments and adoption assistance, to maternity and parental leave top-up for new parents and phased-in return to work after welcoming a new child. This year's winners also recognize the effects of intergenerational family structures and help employees who are caring for aging parents, providing similar assistance as for employees with young children.

"Even as an adult, your parents never stop being your parents," says Leung. "Their health and overall well-being will always affect an employee's performance at work – progressive employers understand that and help their staff by offering compassionate care top-up, wellness spending accounts that also cover expenses related to elder care, and family leave that extends beyond just an employee's dependents or spouse."

Notable initiatives singled out by editors this year include:

• Canada Energy Regulator helps employees balance work and personal lives through several in-house policies, including flexible work hours, up to five paid family leave days per year (for family appointments and related responsibilities), and paid sick time.
  
  
• BCG Canada helps employees who are caregivers with access to a special 'health service navigator' service, as part of the company's benefits plan, as well as emergency 'back-up' care for children and adults, and eight weeks of paid leave for care of an immediate family member.
  
  
• Adobe Systems Canada helps employees interested in starting a family with subsidies for adoption (to $25,000) and coverage for fertility drugs (lifetime maximum of $20,000). The company also offers parental leave top-up of 100 per cent of salary for up to 26 weeks for primary caregivers, or 16 weeks for non-primary caregivers.
  
  
• Bank of Canada helps employees manage unexpected challenges for the aptly named 'sandwich generation', offering compassionate leave top-up for those called upon to care for a loved one (to 93 per cent of salary for up to 28 weeks).
  
  
• Export Development Canada / EDC offers supportive workplace policies to help employees balance work and personal life; programs include family caregiver leave for adults (with top-up to 95 per cent of salary for up to eight weeks) and paid personal leave for family emergencies (five to 10 days, depending on the situation).

Now in its 22nd year, Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers is one of the longest-running competitions within the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, dating back to the earliest editions of the best-selling paperback. This special designation recognizes the employers that do the most to help their employees balance work and family obligations. The editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers evaluate each employer in terms of the programs and initiatives they have to help employees balance work and family commitments. The competition looks at a wide range of HR practices, such as: maternity and parental leave; daycare assistance; paid personal- and earned-days-off (EDO) programs; flexible work arrangements; compassionate leave and elder care assistance; adoption assistance; reproductive assistance, including fertility drugs and IVF; and even academic bursaries for employees' children. In addition, our editors look at other programs each employer may have to address specific work-life balance issues unique to their industry.

Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation's largest publisher of employment periodicals. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which includes 18 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach millions of Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners, including The Globe and Mail. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, one of Canada's largest job search engines, which reaches over two million job-seekers annually and features exclusive editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project.

The full list of Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers (2023) was announced today. Detailed reasons for selection for each of this year's winners, as well as additional stories and photos, were also released today by the editors and are accessible via the competition homepage.

SOURCE Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Stephanie Leung, Editor, [email protected]