Working Mother Magazine has released its 31st annual list of the "100 Best Companies" for working mothers.

Methodology

To be eligible to apply for inclusion on the list, companies had to have at least 500 employees in the United States, offer one or more weeks of full paid maternity leave to all female full-time exempt employees who have been with the organization for at least one year, and offer some type of flex benefits.

Applicants were evaluated based on their responses to more than 400 questions, including questions about their advancement programs, workforce representation, and policies on child care, flexible work arrangements, and leave. The magazine says it gave "particular weight" to the representation of women in the company, advancement programs, and policies on flexibility.

Hundreds of companies applied, Rachel Gillett reports for Business Insider.

Honorees

Nine hospitals and health systems made this year's list:

• Baptist Health South Florida (Coral Gables);
• Bon Secours Virginia Health System (Richmond);
• Children's Healthcare of Atlanta;
• Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa, Florida);
• Northwestern Memorial HealthCare (Chicago);
• Scripps Health (San Diego);
• TriHealth (Cincinnati);
• University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (Madison, Wisconsin); and
• WellStar Health System (Marietta, Georgia), which was ranked in the list's top 10 best companies for working mothers.

All nine of the hospitals and health systems recognized on the list are members of Advisory Board. The Advisory Board Company also was named to this year's list. In total, 30 of the 100 companies on the list were providers, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, or diagnostic companies.

Data on winning companies

Ninety-seven percent of companies on the list offered paid leave for adoption, and 96 percent offered paid paternity leave.

Working Mother Magazine said that the average amount of paid maternity leave increased from eight weeks last year to nine weeks this year.  

When the magazine first published its list in 1985, it says only five of the 30 honored companies offered paid maternity leave, while none offered paid leave for new fathers.

Subha Barry, VP and general manager at Working Mother Media, said that companies have changed their benefits in response to requests from young parents. "Young parents want to be active and involved in their children's lives," she said. "Many things that used to be 'working mom issues' have become more mainstream."

Barry said companies are also increasingly offering flexible work arrangements, including telework, compressed work schedules, and flextime. "They are starting to realize people won't just stay with them because they are writing that paycheck," Barry said. "Lifestyle is important" (Vasel, CNN Money, 9/27; Gillett, Business Insider, 9/28; Strauss, Forbes, 9/27; Working Mother list, accessed 9/29; Working Mother methodology, 8/2).