It used to be that when Kristin Kubas was clocking longer hours at work, not-so-healthy things happened. With no time to cook, she’d hit the fast-food drive-through on her way home. With less time to grocery shop, she’d swoop up whatever prepackaged lunch the convenience store had to offer; and with no time to wait, she’d skip her doctor’s appointment—again and again. These days, however, Kristin and her four kids are living a whole lot healthier. The human resources executive gets her groceries delivered to her desk, has wholesome dinners whipped up whenever she needs them and gets no-wait medical appointments she can breeze through during lunchtime. No, she hasn’t won a working-mom sweepstakes. The convenient—and life-altering—perks are all support systems her employer, Parsippany, NY–based resort and hotel operator Wyndham Worldwide, has put in place to help Kristin and other parents stay well while they’re on the job.

And it’s not the only business to recognize the importance of these kinds of benefits. The Working Mother 100 Best Companies (Wyndham is one of them) all recognize the critical role wellness plays in productivity, job satisfaction and retention. Nearly all offer stress management programs (96 percent), health screenings (98 percent) and gym discounts (97 percent). But many go further, offering solutions to help mom employees manage daily hurdles like dinnertime, so they can find the “me time” they need to maintain their own physical and mental health. Kristin’s on-demand entrées, for instance, come from the cafeteria, which sells family-size portions. And by getting her groceries delivered to her desk, Kristin frees up two hours each week to work out or cheer at the basketball games of twins Jonathan and Christopher, 9.

“I feel that by being a healthy mom, I’m a more effective mom,” says Kristin, 40, who also has two toddlers, Matthew, 3, and Rebecca, 2. Since leaving a previous employer that wasn’t family-friendly, Kristin says, her blood pressure and weight have dropped into a healthier range, a big deal because she has a history of heart disease.

“When employees feel better about themselves, they make better choices in terms of lifestyle, health and fitness,” says Julia Halberg, MD, director of global health for General Mills, which has a dentist, a physician and a convenience store on-site. No separate trip for bread and milk? Heaven.

Ways to Put Yourself First

Good Business
Wellness is more than just a good benefit, it’s also good business. Medical costs decrease by roughly $3.27 and absentee costs by $2.73 for every dollar spent, according to a 2010 Harvard University review of studies on workplace wellness programs. “Because workers spend the majority of their daytime hours in the office, employers are well situated to implement initiatives that can improve employees’ health,” says Katherine Baicker, professor of health economics at Harvard Public School of Health. “Healthy workers have lower absentee rates, are more productive and have lower health-care costs.” Such trends are particularly relevant in these economic times. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s how some companies help moms find their own moment of Zen at work.

Fitness Made Easy
At 300 pounds, Brooke Page, 30, had trouble breathing, let alone playing with her kids, Cole, 5, and Lilly, 20 months. When she was selected to compete in a weight-loss contest last year, Brooke turned to her employer, financial services provider Capital One, for help. The Richmond, VA–based administrative assistant logged hours in the company gym, hit the campus walking trails and chose reduced-calorie entrées in the cafeteria. To date, she’s lost more than 84 pounds! When Brooke completed her first 5K, her managers even ran as a team with her. “They said, ‘This is something you need to do, and we’ll help,’ ” Brooke recalls. “They meant every word.”

An estimated 67 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Overweight women face increased health risks like heart disease, diabetes, several kinds of cancer and more. Regardless of weight, leading a sedentary lifestyle (hello, desk job and remote control!) can be equally dangerous, says Steven Blair, PED, a professor at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health.

Yet we all know how difficult it can be for working moms to carve out time to exercise. With this in mind, 78 percent of 100 Best Companies offer on-site fitness facilities and showers. Employees are encouraged to use them anytime they can—not just at lunch.

The company gym is K.C. Danzansky’s favorite work perk. A zone operations manager in General Mills’ Minneapolis headquarters and mom to Drew, 4, and Benji, 2, K.C. used the staff personal trainers to shape up for her wedding and, years later, the on-site physical therapist to help her recover from a back injury. “As a mom, there are times when my needs come below those of my family,” she says. “The company enables me to take care of myself.”

In a bad mood? Hit the waves. At Patagonia they know that physical activity improves mood, relieves stress and clears the mind. So employees at the Ventura, CA–based outdoor outfitter are encouraged to go for a walk, bike, even surf during lunch. And at its Reno distribution center, employees can flyfish on the Truckee River. “It’s very head-clearing,” says Lu Setnicka, Patagonia’s director of human resources.

Handy Clinics
For too many working mothers, getting through an overscheduled day is difficult enough when you are well; trying to do it all when you’re feverish and achy can put you over the edge. Getting help before you feel any worse is a stress reliever that Alyson Johnson, vice president of communications at Wyndham, says proves invaluable. Just recently she popped in for a throat exam with the company’s on-site nurse and soon after found an antibiotic (for strep) waiting for her at the front desk. “Normally, it would have taken too much out of the day to get to the doctor’s office,” she says. “I would have put it off.” Which means that her sons, Tucker, 3, and Cooper, 1, probably would have gotten sick, too.

Putting off doctors’ appointments is an all-too-common working-mom reality that can be truly dangerous, especially for women like Shannon Yeager, who has a family history of breast cancer. When Capital One announced on-site mammograms, the 40-year-old risk manager and mom of Eliza, 7, and Isaac, 6, immediately signed up. Her results were fine, and now she feels great about being proactive with her own health.

Nearly all winning companies (93 percent) offer on-site vaccinations, and 89 percent allow employees to check their blood pressure during work hours. Not only do such services help employees detect disease early and keep chronic conditions controlled, they save money: Capital One’s on-site services saved its staffers an impressive $280,110 in copays in 2009.

The benefits show up on the corporate side as well. At University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC), for example, wellness programs are one reason the vacancy rate hovers around 3 percent, with 25 applicants for each position, says Janice Bultema, senior vice president of human resources. It’s a valuable recruitment tool, says Bultema; when it comes to deciding who takes care of the patients, “we get to screen for the best of the best.”

The path to the bottom line can be even more direct for employers, says Ron Goetzel, PhD, director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies at Emory University. He notes that most wellness plans achieve a net cost savings within three years and some within as little as one year. Intel, for example, has seen its health-care costs flatten since offering wellness screenings, and this year plans to offer a $250 discount on health insurance to employees who get screened, says Corrie Zenzola, global health and risk benefits design manager for the Santa Clara, CA, technology giant. This trend is growing: 62 percent of this year’s 100 Best Companies offer financial incentives for working toward and achieving wellness goals.

Refreshed and Refocused
The 100 Best Companies know wellness isn’t just about physical fitness; it’s about mental health, too. That’s why WellPoint, which operates the Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan in 14 states, hosts a popular monthly wellness tele conference. Topics range from the importance of sleep to the power of laughter, says Pamela Ventura, human resources director of the Indianapolis-based company.

Sometimes, though, the best medicine is time spent away from your desk. Intel employees receive an eight-week, fully paid sabbatical following seven years of service. “It’s an opportunity for the person stepping away to refresh completely,” says Zenzola. “You see a huge difference in people when they come back to work.”

And at Patagonia, products graphics manager Val Franco, 59, spent three weeks pulling nonnative plants and removing barbed-wire fencing in the other Patagonia—the mountainous region spread over Chile and Argentina. The assignment, 100 percent funded by her employer as part of its efforts to set up a 173,000-acre national park, gave the mom of Jonathan, 18, and Tess, 15, new insight into preservation. “After all these years, I understood exactly what [company founder] Yvon [Chouinard] got so inspired by all those years ago,” she said. “And I realized how important it is to teach my children about it.”

Eat Well, Stay Well
Kohlrabi and purple carrots. Those are the “winning” new veggies Amy Mihm’s family tasted through the farm-share program sponsored by her employer, Madison, WI–based UWHC. Getting locally grown organic produce delivered to her job means less time in the grocery store and a chance to expand her kids’ palates. “It’s fun,” says Amy, 34, a clinical nutritionist and mom to George, 5, Madeline, 2, and Ella, 1o months. “The farm also offers trips to pick peas or tomatoes or basil.” Best of all? Subsidized through the hospital’s insurance plan, the veggie deliveries cost only around $6 each.

At Intel, Christy Brundage, a Rancho Rio, NM–based human resources strategic program manager, counts her Monday-morning egg-white omelet as the secret ingredient to staying healthy. “All weekend I’ve cooked and cleaned and run around after the kids,” she says. “On Monday, I walk in and have a beautiful breakfast prepared for me. That’s a huge mental health benefit.”

5 Ways to Put Yourself First