Stress Matters, a workshop hosted by Merck Women’s Network, shows female employees how to identify stress triggers and banish them.

This giant pharmaceutical company really did its employees proud in 2009. Its new Exceptional Caregiving website provided a variety of resources for those raising kids, teens and young adults with special needs, while the pilot of its Autism Spectrum College Coach helped children with autism, Asperger's syndrome, sensory integration disorders and related conditions prepare for life after high school. The company also doubled its adoption aid benefit to $10,000 and gave parents who adopt one fully paid week of leave. (Birth mothers get six fully paid weeks.) All employees are eligible for health insurance, regardless of the number of hours they work, and to help parents, there are sliding-scale fees and subsidies at the company's on-site child-care centers in West Point and Upper Gwynedd, PA; Rahway, NJ; and headquarters. During the summer, many employees work four nine-hour days each week and finish at noon on Fridays.

Chairman & CEO Richard T. Clark

Chief Diversity Officer Deborah Dagit

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 36%

Women among top earners 37%

Women on board of directors 13%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 0%  

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 3%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 0%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement Not tracked  

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? Yes

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.