Top Nine Enterprises Promoting Gender-Balanced Workplace Policies Advantageous to Female Employees
Revised Article:
Embracing a novel approach, JUST Capital unveiled its list of top-scoring companies champions for gender-friendly workplaces on March 6, 2025. Unlike traditional "best places to work" rankings based on employee surveys or self-reported employer data, JUST Capital focuses on tangible workplace policies that support women.
This methodology, while fraught with obstacles, is crucial as both employers and employees often grapple with identifying and comparing company policies. A widespread issue, as researchers lament a striking dearth of public transparency regarding employee benefits like paid parental leave[1]. Regardless, JUST Capital managed to identify nine companies demonstrating unwavering commitment to women workers, representing diverse industries and listed in alphabetical order:
- Adobe
- American Express
- Bank of America
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Citigroup
- Gilead Sciences
- Merck
- Organon & Co
- Synchrony Financial
In the private sector at large, obstacles in benefits transparency are not limited to job seekers alone, but also pose challenges for employees in their current positions[1]. An astounding 86% of employees reported perplexity about their own company's benefits, according to a 2025 Benefits Insights Report by Businessolver[1]. This confusion, if unaddressed, can amplify discrimination as benefits often touch on critical areas like healthcare, caretaking leave, and reproductive rights[1].
Women Workers' Top Priorities
"At JUST Capital, our guiding star is the American public's concerns for corporate practices. Our tools, resources, and partnerships with major U.S. employers are all aimed at fostering value for stakeholders and business improvement," said Kelley-Frances Fenelon, JUST Capital Director of Corporate Action and Research, via email.
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Through extensive surveys of over 3,000 U.S. adults and intensive focus group research, JUST Capital revealed three key issues that U.S. workers want employers to address:
- Equal Pay for Equal Work: 94% of U.S. workers favor equal pay for equal work.
- Expanded Childcare Benefits: A solid 86% of U.S. workers advocate for broader childcare benefits.
- Supportive Work-Life Balance: Workers crave corporate America's offering of a quality benefits package that supports work-life balance.
These priorities resonated across political lines.
The focus on equal pay and childcare aligns with polls of women workers, such as a 2024 Gallup report on women's well-being. The report found that women who can balance work and personal responsibilities are twice as likely to be engaged at work and less likely to seek new jobs[1]. Furthermore, women with children are, on average, twice as likely as men with children to consider adjusting their working hours or leaving their jobs due to childcare hurdles[1].
Based on public research, JUST Capital identified five essential workplace policies that cater to working women and empower their growth:
- Offering 12+ weeks of paid parental leave for both primary and secondary caregivers
- Providing backup dependent care options
- Subsidizing dependent care expenses
- Offering flexible work hours
- Performing periodic pay gap analysis and reporting specific gender pay gap ratios
JUST Capital then analyzed leading U.S. companies from the Russell 1000 based on these criteria.
"What sets our assessment apart from standard 'best places to work' lists is our emphasis on specific policies addressing issues that American workers value the most," said Aleksandra Radeva, Senior Research Manager at JUST Capital, via email. "These companies have demonstrated practical commitments to practices that reflect the priorities of American workers."
Turbocharging Policies for Women Workers
Companies keen on enhancing their work-family benefits can leverage several benchmarking resources. Some examples include:
- UCLA Anderson School of Management's Online Database: PhD candidate Hillary Cookler has created a resource evaluating American companies on both the transparency and quality of their paid parental leave policies[2].
- Reproductive and Maternal Health Compass: Its report provides analysis on the reproductive health benefits provided by the 100 largest U.S. companies[2].
- TheSkimm's Online Databases: These compilations include data on paid family leave and childcare benefits from various campaigns seeking transparency from companies[2]. For instance, the #ShowUsYourLeave database displays policies from over 575 companies related to paid leave for both primary and secondary caregivers, adoption and foster leave, and fertility benefits[2]. The #ShowUsYourChildCare database showcases information from over 80 companies on areas such as on-site childcare facilities, subsidized childcare benefits, backup childcare, and dependent care flexible spending accounts[2].
- Rhia Ventures' Public Transparency Campaign: This initiative focuses on reproductive health benefits, detailing policies from over 300 companies concerning abortion-related travel, paid time off for travel and recovery, communications promoting abortion access, and support for reproductive healthcare, rights, or justice organizations[2].
All these resources should aid in surmounting the barriers from a lack of transparency, enabling companies to benchmark and invest proactively in policies that benefit women workers more effectively.
Enrichment Data:
- Providing paid parental leave enhances the well-being, career stability, and economic equality of women workers, offering several tangible benefits:
- Physical and Mental Health Improvement: Paid leave significantly reduces postpartum depression rates and improves mental health outcomes for mothers[1][2].
- Improved Infant Health: Paid leave leads to reduced infant mortality and improved developmental outcomes[2].
- Career Continuity: Paid leave helps women stay active in the workforce, safeguarding career continuity and wage stability[3].
- Closing the Gender Pay Gap: Maintaining employment allows mothers to close the gender pay gap and mitigate the impact of childcare responsibilities on their careers[3].
- Economic Stability: Financial stability minimizes reliance on public assistance and bolsters family finances during leave[1].
- Family Bonding: Paid leave allows for newborn bonding, fostering healthier family relationships[1].
- Reduced Stress: Shared responsibilities through paid family leave result in a less stressful environment for mothers[2].
- Increased Labor Force Participation: Encourages women to remain in the labor force and fosters a more stable workforce[3].
- Employer Benefits: Offering paid family leave brings rewards for employers too:
- Talent Attraction and Retention: Employers with generous family leave policies attract and retain top talent eager for such benefits[4].
- Improved Business Outcomes: Generous family leave policies boost employee satisfaction, loyalty, and consequently business performance[4].
- Sources: [1] Bureau of Labor Statistics: Parental Leave: Current Status and Trends [2] National Partnership for Women & Families: The State of American Work Family Policies - 2022 Update [3] World Economic Forum: Closing the gender gap: Opportunities for action [4] Center for American Progress: The Case for Paid Family and Medical Leave
- JUST Capital, in agreement with the American public's concerns, has highlighted essential workplace policies that cater to women workers, such as offering 12 or more weeks of paid parental leave, providing backup dependent care options, subsidizing dependent care expenses, offering flexible work hours, and conducting periodic pay gap analyses.
- Employers can enable their companies to benchmark and proactively invest in policies that reflect the priorities of women workers by leveraging resources like UCLA Anderson School of Management's Online Database, the Reproductive and Maternal Health Compass, TheSkimm's Online Databases, and Rhia Ventures' Public Transparency Campaign.
- By embracing policies like equal pay for equal work, expanded childcare benefits, and supportive work-life balance, employers can agree with the priorities of 94% of U.S. workers, 86% of whom advocate for broader childcare benefits, and gain a competitive edge in the private sector, thereby fostering a more engaged workforce, reducing discrimination, and enhancing overall business performance.
