JTI-Macdonald recognized as Canada's #1 Top Employer for its innovative approach to equity, mental health and wellbeing
TORONTO, Jan. 20, 2022 /CNW/ - Top Employers Institute has certified JTI-Macdonald Corp. as Canada's #1 Top Employer 2022, recognizing the company's commitment and innovative approaches to inclusion, equity, wellbeing and mental health, its work to optimize the hybrid work model and its new global family leave policy.
"People are JTI's most important asset, and we are investing in them to improve our employees' experience and deliver real progress," said Alan Jackson, General Manager of JTI-Macdonald. "With initiatives like our equal family leave policy, JTI is acting on its commitment to employee wellbeing, diversity and gender equality. We are giving every parent equal opportunity to spend quality time with their children, without worrying about the impact it could have on their finances or careers."
JTI's new global family leave policy gives employees 20 weeks' paid leave, regardless of gender or sexual orientation or whether employees become parents by giving birth or through adoption or surrogacy. Leading by example, General Manager Alan Jackson was among the first Canadian employee to utilize the new policy when his family welcomed a new child in 2021.
"It is an honour to be certified by Top Employers Institute," said Nancy Bourdon, JTI-Macdonald's People & Culture Director. "Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and we aim to offer them the best possible working environment. In 2021, we leaned into the hybrid work model and did everything we could to provide our employees with support and flexibility. Performance and outcomes are what matter, not hours spent in the office. Under our new ways of working, we give employees the flexibility to split their time between in-person and remote work. We also introduced unlimited paid sick days and enhanced our vacation policy. To ensure these changes don't mean work encroaches on our employees' lives, we embraced core hours and digital tools to help people manage their working hours and protect their personal time," Bourdon added.
JTI-Macdonald has set itself ambitious goals for the coming years to continue to benefit, support, and attract current and future talent. The organization will continue to focus on diversity, inclusion, employee wellbeing and career development by adapting and improving the company's work environment, be that in the office or at home.
Other steps JTI-Macdonald has taken to earn the spot of Canada's #1 Top Employer include:
- Personalized, comprehensive and wide range of training and learning opportunities tailored to individual learning and development needs (online instructor led learning, immersive, self-paced online or offline) to give all employees the opportunity to maximize their potential
- An increased emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, with 21% of employees now certified as Mental Health First Aiders
- Ensuring equal access to promotions & opportunities, simplifying hiring requirements to correct for unconscious bias and gender-balanced interview panel
- Giving employees opportunities during work hours to volunteer in our communities and matching personal donations and volunteered time to charitable causes
- Building a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) advisory committee to guide and support JTI's journey towards a more equitable and inclusive workplace
- The creation of a workstream within the Diversity & Inclusion team to focus on mental wellbeing and optimization of the employee work-from-home experience that has included a robust calendar of virtual celebrations, education and awareness campaigns and virtual access to games, fitness classes, town-halls, national conferences, training and development, and year-end events
- Providing a home office catalogue to enhance remote work setups
For further information, please contact: 1-905-804-7469
JTI-Macdonald Corp. is one of the oldest companies in Canada, tracing its founding back to 1858. Today, JTI-Macdonald employs approximately 500 people across Canada, with manufacturing facilities in Montreal, administrative offices in Mississauga and sales offices across the country. JTI-Macdonald's parent company, JTI, has been certified a Global Top Employer eighth year in a row, one of only 11 other companies worldwide. JTI earned the certification in all six regions and 66 countries in which it operates.
Top Employers Institute is the global authority on recognizing excellence in People Practices. The organization helps accelerate these practices to enrich the world of work. Through the Top Employers Institute Certification Program, participating companies can be certified and recognized as an employer of choice. Established 30 years ago, Top Employers Institute has certified 1,691 organizations in 120 countries/regions. These certified Top Employers positively impact the lives of over 7 million employees globally.
SOURCE JTI-Macdonald Corp.
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