Ethics Newsline®

NEW YORK
Working Mother magazine last week unveiled its annual list of the best 100 companies for working moms — noting that many firms are finding that it is good business to be family-friendly.

The magazine singled out 10 firms — Bank of America, Cigna, Deutsche Bank, Fannie Mae, Eli Lilly, Lincoln Financial Group, IBM, First Tennessee Bank, Lotus Development, and Prudential Financial Services — as especially progressive and helpful.

“Companies are really listening to what their employees have to say,” said Working Mother executive editor Deborah Wilburn. “It’s not so much, ‘What are the hours that you’re in the office,’ but ‘Are you getting the job done?’”

Companies that made the list offer policies that include helping employees screen new nannies, providing free baby formula to new mothers, and providing backup child- and elder-care services, the Associated Press reported.