Grant Thornton named to Working Mother’s ‘100 Best Companies’ for 15th consecutive year

CHICAGO — Grant Thornton LLP is one of Working Mother magazine’s 2020 “100 Best Companies,” marking the 15^th consecutive year the firm is receiving this recognition. The 100 Best Companies, representing more than 2 million U.S. employees, recognizes inclusive benefits for families, including gender-neutral parental leave, gradual phase-back after parental leave, and accessible, affordable childcare.

Grant Thornton offers a range of benefits that helped the firm secure its spot among the 100 Best Companies. Moreover, the firm has rolled out several recent initiatives specifically to help working parents as they contend with the challenges posed by COVID-19.

Grant Thornton’s parent-friendly initiatives include:

• Grant Thornton provides paid maternity and paternity leave, telecommuting, and flexible work arrangements, including reduced work schedules, compressed work weeks and flexible days. The firm also offers flexible time off, an industry-leading benefit enhancement that allows employees to take time off as needed to meet their individual needs instead of a predetermined set of paid time off (PTO) days.
• Grant Thornton offers a voluntary “Mentor Parents” program to help guide new parents through their transition back to work from parental leave.
• Grant Thornton covers the cost of breast milk shipping when employees are traveling for work.
• Grant Thornton offers 30 days of paid backup childcare — the firm provided an additional 15 days to help working parents balance work and childcare obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Every Grant Thornton colleague has free access to Care@Work’s premium membership through Care.com, which provides Grant Thornton professionals with access to a network of caregivers and other services — including childcare, eldercare, pet care, housekeeping and other resources to support quality of life.
• Grant Thornton offers a Working Parents & Allies business resource group, which focuses on aligning parenting values to workplace expectations, including best practices for successful work-life integration.
• Grant Thornton is piloting a food-delivery and meal-planning offering to lessen the burden the pandemic is placing on its workforce.

“As a working mother myself, I appreciate Grant Thornton’s dedication to creating a workplace that enables all our professionals to balance work and family — especially in the wake COVID-19,” said Rashada Whitehead, Grant Thornton’s head of culture, diversity, equity and inclusion. “Our working parents’ incredible resilience continues to shape our firm during this historic time. We’re honored that Working Mother has once again recognized the firm’s commitment to these efforts.”

“Our 100 Best Companies are the standard of excellence and continue to pave the way with the work they are doing on behalf of working parents and caregivers in the U.S.,” said Subha Barry, president of Working Mother Media. “These companies were well ahead of the curve when it came to supporting their employees during this time of vast change with their family-friendly policies already in place. We celebrate their efforts and applaud them for addressing the needs of this important and ever-growing sector of talent.”

About the methodology

The 2020 Working Mother 100 Best Companies application includes more than 400 questions on leave policies, workforce representation, benefits, childcare, advancement programs, flexibility and more. It surveys the availability and usage of these programs, as well as the accountability of the many managers who oversee them. All applicants receive feedback showing how they compare with other applicants; however, the names of applicants that do not make the list are kept confidential. Company profiles and data come from submitted applications and reflect 2019 data.

About Working Mother Media

Working Mother Media (WMM), a division of Bonnier Corp., publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com. The Working Mother Research Institute, the National Association for Female Executives, Diversity Best Practices and Culture@Work are also units within WMM. WMM’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change, and Working Mother magazine is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

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