The School at Work program at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics pays hourly employees their usual wages to attend its career-enhancing and functional skills courses; they also receive mentors and coaches.

Excellent training programs aren’t the only things helping to propel hourly workers toward the top at this academic medical center. They can also increase their fortunes by taking advantage of its free financial counseling, pretax dependent care and health care accounts (which allow them to stash up to $5,000 and $7,500 per year) and affordable backup care aimed at kids, adults and elder relatives. Generous tuition aid helps them pay for 15 academic credits per year.

President and CEO: Donna Katen-Bahensky

Senior VP, HR: Janice Bultema

Work hours required for family health insurance: 12

Formal advancement program offered for hourly employees? --

% of hourly employees promoted to manager positions: --

Job-skills training offered for hourly employees? Yes

Managers rewarded for helping hourly employees advance? Yes

Lactation program offered for nursing mother employees? Yes

Paid time off offered to employees? Yes

Employee mothers with one year of service offered extra time off (beyond the 12 weeks required by FMLA) following childbirth? Yes

Valerie lives in Madison and has two sons, Andy (17) and Aaron (15).

Valerie Mack is mother to two teenage sons and a nurse care team leader in UWHC’s busy adult and pediatric emergency room. Val says, “Supporting all employees — not just working parents — is something UW Hospital makes a priority.” In her more than 30 years at the hospital, she's appreciated the support and flexibility she's had both before she had kids, and throughout all phases of motherhood.

Val really loves her part-time (70 percent) schedule. She also appreciates the added flexibility of being able to freely trade shifts with other nurses so can she can balance responsibilities at both home and work. A perfect example of how Valerie keeps her work and family life in balance is her attendance at her sons’ sports events. “I never miss an opportunity to see my sons’ baseball games. My oldest son made it into a tournament that took place out-of-state, and I was able to get time off at the last-minute. Being there to see him play meant the world to me.”

Being able to commit to her family also allows Val to commit to her work. Val adds, “The organization encourages us to teach others, and share our knowledge with others. I take it upon myself as a mother with older children to provide guidance and be a mentor to mothers with young children or staff thinking about starting a family. I do this by not only reminding them about all the great resources and family-friendly benefits and programs UWHC provides its employees, but also by telling them about my successes as a working parent at UWHC.”

 

Women comprise 68% of the management team at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

When nurse practitioner Kari Stampfli gave birth to her son two years ago, she was grateful for the support this academic medical center offered her. “Not only did my manager and colleagues call to check in and make me feel connected, but I received a New Parent Welcome Kit with information about the lactation rooms near my work area,” she says. After wrapping up 12 job-guaranteed weeks of leave (two at 75% pay), she returned to work on a temporarily reduced schedule—and still flexes her hours. “The culture here makes the bridge from working woman to working mother a smooth one,” she raves. Later, when she needed in-home help for her parents, she turned to the center’s backup-care program, which provides 80 hours of subsidized aid annually.

President & CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky

Senior VP, HR Janice Bultema

Women managers/execs 55% 

Women among top earners 76% 

Women hires in 2010 69% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 0 

Allows new moms to “phase back” into work with reduced hours? Yes

Offers affinity group for new mothers? No

Offers backup childcare? Yes

Employees working flexibly 100%

At UWHC, employees’ health insurance covers children up to age 27.

Working moms can buy milk at this hospital system’s convenience store, then order a meal at its cafeteria before driving a mere half mile to the company-sponsored day care. “People want to work here because of its reputation for work life balance,” says Shannon Schroeder, an IT services manager and mother of two.

President & CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky

Senior VP, HR Janice Bultema

Offers on-site or near-site childcare Yes

Sponsors backup childcare Yes

Sponsors sick-child care Yes

Sponsors before- or afterschool childcare No

Offers business-travel childcare reimbursements Yes

Offers support groups for parents of teens Yes

Offers college coaching Yes

Offers affinity group for employees with children who have special needs Yes

Offers scholarships to employees’ family members No

Offers adoption assistance No

At UWHC, anyone who works 20 hours per week nets family health coverage for $89 per month.

Whether they’re rushing to treat emergency patients wheeled into intensive care or calmly scheduling next month’s bariatric surgeries, the pace rarely slows for the 5,417 hourly workers employed by this academic medical center and its 85 associated clinics. To counterbalance it, every single person flexed hours at some point last year, while half of the full-time hourly staff compressed their schedules and 20 to 30 people traded shifts each week. Nurse Valerie Mack tweaked her hours to attend her son’s baseball game: “Being there to see him play meant the world to me,” recalls the mom of two. Lisa Atkins, a physical therapist, frequently adjusts her schedule: “I can leave work early one day and make up time later that week,” reports the mom of four. On average, most hourly workers stay with the center for a decade, relishing perks such as free city bus passes, free taxis home during an emergency, free tax preparation for those making less than $48,000, tuition reimbursements for 15 academic credits per year and 10% salary contributions to their retirement plans, deposited monthly by their employer. Taking the edge off are two on-site fitness centers and in-house yoga, Zumba and circuit training classes that cost less than $2 per week.

Hourly workers 74%

President & CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky

Senior VP, HR Janice Bultema

Female hourly workers 79%

Work hours required for family health insurance 12

Job skills training during work hours for hourly workers Yes

Encourage breaks so nursing moms can breast-pump Yes

Average annual paid time off taken by hourly workers 30 days

Minimum job-guaranteed maternity leave offered to hourly workers 26 weeks

Minimum paid maternity leave offered to hourly workers 12 days at full pay

100% of the employees at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics used flextime to add balance to their lives last year.

Investing in its people is a priority for this academic medical center, which last year spent $1.6 million on tuition to help employees pursue certifications and academic degrees. While members of the management team are eligible for a fully paid executive MBA or master's of science, with paid time off to attend classes, there are also development opportunities for high-achieving nurses at the center's Clinical Leadership Institute. A healthy workforce pays its own dividends, so the center grants health insurance to anyone who works at least 12 hours per week and recently extended coverage to employee kids as old as 27. New risk assessments have helped parents pinpoint their health issues and schedule consultations with nurses, dietitians and fitness coaches. To relax, mothers sign up for on-site exercise classes, visit gyms with corporate discounts and enjoy staff knitting groups and book clubs. Kickball games, family swim nights and employee picnics foster a sense of community.

President & CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky

SVP, HR Janice Bultema

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 69%

Women among top earners 76%

Women on board of directors 28%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 50%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 8%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* Not tracked   

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement 100%

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

 

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

Free bus passes for UWHC employees make it more affordable for them to commute to work or go on family outings during the weekend.

No matter how much planning you do as a parent, there are always those moments when everything falls apart—which is why hourly worker moms love the new backup-care program offered by this 471-bed academic medical center and its 80 outpatient clinics. Although they have long enjoyed the convenience of a nearby day-care center that serves kids ages 6 weeks to 3 years, parents rave about the service, which sends babysitters to their homes on short notice for just $4 per hour; if they’d rather drop children at a child-care center, they can do that, too—at an hourly cost of just $2 per child. Anyone working 20 hours per week is eligible, and employees can use the service to care for kids, adults or elders, none of whom have to be legal dependents. In another strong show of support for families, the organization allows new mothers to spend 26 partially paid weeks at home after the birth of a baby without worrying about hourly work requirements or putting their jobs in jeopardy. Time off is good, too: Hourly employees who work 40 hours a week receive a whopping 35 paid days each year, which can top out at 51 days annually over the course of their entire career. Part-timers receive prorated paid vacation and benefit from the organization’s widespread support for flexible schedules. All hourly workers regularly use flextime, while a surprisingly large number compress their workweeks, job-share, telecommute and even reduce their hours. (To save on commuting costs, for example, the Medical Records team now works four ten-hour days.) Taking the pressure off is the knowledge that family health coverage, which now covers dependents until the age of 27, is available to anyone working just 12 hours a week.

Hourly Workers 74%

President & CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky

Senior VP, HR Janice Bultema

Hourly workers that are female 79%

Work hours required for family health insurance 12

Job skills training for hourly employees Yes

Average paid sick leave taken by hourly workers 7 days

Average paid vacation leave taken by hourly workers 16 days

Job-guaranteed maternity leave for hourly workers 26 weeks

Paid maternity leave for hourly workers 12 days at full pay

 

Full-time employees of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics are automatically given at least 35 paid days off each year.

Just months after her second daughter was born, Kari Schrage visited this academic medical center to interview for a job as senior public affairs specialist—and was immediately sold by what she saw penciled in on her schedule. Without her even asking, management had set aside time for her to use a lactation room. “They get the little things that matter to parents,” she says of the Madison, WI–based organization where she’s worked for three years. To help all of its mothers find balance, the center offers on-site cafeterias and pharmacies that make it a snap for them to grab dinner and prescriptions. Free bus passes for traveling around the capital, darkened office “reflection rooms” that provide at-work sanctuary and company-sponsored holiday shopping trips also help. But the biggest perk may be this employer’s new in-home and center-based backup care, which costs just $2 to $4 per hour, up to 60 hours per year.

President & CEO: Donna Katen-Bahensky

VP, HR: Janice Bultema

Women managers/execs: 69%

Women among top earners: 69%

Women on board of directors: 31%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 33% 

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 40%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: N/A

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 35%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: Yes