Nine percent of all private industry employees have access to adoption-assistance benefits, up from 5 percent in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (National Compensation Survey, March 2005, p. 26).
Working Mother magazine's 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers (October 2005) profiles companies that offer adoption benefits. Ninety-two percent of their 100 Best Companies provide several weeks of paid leave for adoptive parents, reimbursements for adoption expenses, or a combination of the two.
Working Mother compared their 100 Best Companies with companies nationwide:
- 92 percent of the WM 100 Best offered adoption assistance, compared to 20 percent nationwide.
- 54 percent of the WM 100 Best offered paid adoption leave, compared to 18 percent nationwide.
- 62 percent of the WM 100 Best offered infertility treatment coverage, compared to 41 percent nationwide.
Kudos to MBNA America Bank, which offers the best benefits package for adoptive parents for the second year in a row. Its package includes $14,953 in aid to employees adopting a non-family member, plus six weeks of fully paid leave for the adoption of a child.
Also in the top 11 for offering adoption benefits:
- Abbott Laboratories - $9,645 average adoption reimbursement
- Avon Products, Inc. - $10,000 average adoption reimbursement; 2 weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents
- Eli Lilly and Company - $9,042 average adoption reimbursement; 1 week of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents
- Fannie Mae - $10,000 average adoption reimbursement; 4 weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents
- Freddie Mac - $8,300 average adoption reimbursement
- Inova Health System - $7,000 average adoption reimbursement; 2 weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents
- JPMorgan Chase - $10,000 average adoption reimbursement; 1 week of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents
- Motorola, Inc - $7,000 average adoption reimbursement
- Pfizer Inc. - $8,611 average adoption reimbursement
- Timberland Company - $10,000 average adoption reimbursement; 2 weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents
Honorable Mention goes to Patagonia, Inc, which offers $5,000 average adoption reimbursement and a whopping 8 weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents.
Shame on the following companies in the WM 100 Best, who do not offer any adoption benefits:
- First National Bank
- Ford Motor Company
- IKEA
- Intel Corporation
- Marriott International, Inc.
- Northwestern Memorial Healthcare
Pitt County Memorial Hospital
- Providence Alaska Medical Center
Isn’t it ironic that three of my “bottom eight” are academic medical centers?!
If your employer doesn't offer adoption assistance benefits, how can you convince them of the importance of offering an adoption benefits package? Your first step should be to obtain information from the Adoption-Friendly Workplace, 1-877-777-4222. They'll send you a free resource guide, which includes a CD-ROM with templates you can use to create a proposal to present to your employer.
They suggest the following strategy for convincing your employer of the value of adoption benefits:
Familiarize yourself with your company's benefits policies. Ask for written maternity and parental leave policies. Compare maternity benefits and adoption benefits.
Ask the person(s) responsible for administering benefits about the decision-making process in regards to new benefits.
Enlist support from other employees who are adopting, who have adopted, or who are touched by adoption, particularly if those employees are in a decision-making and/or management level.
Write a proposal requesting adoption benefits. Your proposal will include the following:
- A letter to your employer
- A comparison of maternity/adoption benefits
- A request to add adoption benefits to your company's benefits policy
- A list of employers in your industry or area who offer adoption benefits
Schedule a meeting with a senior manager in human resources. Share your own experience with adoption and discuss your desire to add adoption benefits to your company's policy.
It's important to ask what the next steps will be in the decision-making process and to schedule a follow-up meeting.
Samantha Kitch, from Kansas City, MO, successfully
After learning who was in charge of benefits review at corporate headquarters, Samantha sent her petition, highlighting the company's family values mission and explaining how adding infertility benefits would facilitate family building for people like her.
A couple of years later, her employer began offering a benefits package that included a $4,000 adoption reimbursement as well as $10,000 in lifetime infertility coverage. As a result of the benefits, Samantha and her husband, Randy, were able to adopt a child and to give birth to a child through donor embryo adoption.
More information about financing adoption is available on my Web site, www.laurachristianson.com.
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