Diageo North America Named to Working Mother's "100 Best Companies For Working Mothers" List

NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlighting the top companies with progressive workplace programs, Working Mother magazine has named Diageo North America as one of the 2014 100 Best Companies For Working Mothers.  Diageo is recognized as a leader in establishing a family-friendly culture with progressive programs including child care, flexible work arrangements, paid parental leave and advancement of women.

"At Diageo we are dedicated to the successful development and advancement of women, and we believe that starts by ensuring we are fostering an inclusive culture that is authentic and supportive of all our employees, especially working mothers," said Larry Schwartz, President, Diageo North America. "We are honored to be recognized as a leading family-friendly company for the sixth year in a row and will continue our commitment to creating a culture of success for our people." 

Diageo offers a variety of flexible working arrangements including job share, flextime, compressed hours and opportunities to work from home. The company subsidizes back-up daycare and adult/elder care, matches employees' flexible spending accounts for dependent care and reimburses a percentage of the cost for in vitro and fertility treatments.  Pregnant women and new moms can take advantage of nutritional education, smoking cessation programs and access to private pumping rooms for nursing mothers.  Programs for employees with tweens/teens include college preparation and placement assistance as well as counseling for substance abuse, emotional support and families.  Many office locations offer on-site timesaving services such as a health club and dry cleaning dropoff/pickup, and all employees have access to a concierge service.  To help employees manage their families' health, the company hosts a variety of wellness programs, including a company-wide health challenge, regular Wellness Webexes, and wellness fairs.  Employees are granted up to five days per year of paid time off to volunteer, which can be used to be active in their children's schools or elsewhere in the community.  The company also supports new ideas from employees, particularly parents and mothers who face unique challenges.

"I am a working mother and have had all four of my children while working at Diageo," said Melissa Woodbury, Director On Premise Customer Planning and Activation for Diageo.  "Diageo has created an environment that is not only flexible and supportive, but that enables me to embrace the experience of being a working mother while continuing to grow in a leadership role."

To invest in its employees and build up a future pipeline of leaders, Diageo offers early career programs to attract and hire a diverse workforce and provides coaching initiatives to help employees succeed in their careers. Diageo's Spirited Women's Network employee resource group supplements these efforts by hosting regular networking receptions and career talks by female Diageo executives to challenge our workplace culture and drive alignment between women's career issues and Diageo's success.

Carol Evans, president, Working Mother Media said, "The Working Mother 100 Best Companies are the leaders in the advancement of women by supporting their need to integrate family and work successfully. We are thrilled to honor the U.S. companies that put words into action and build family-friendly cultures on the foundation of thoughtful policies and effective programs. Women now make up 50 percent of our workforce.  We need to make sure they have the support to be outstanding moms as well as great employees."

The 2014 Working Mother 100 Best Companies application included more than 450 questions on leave policies, workforce representation, benefits, child care, advancement programs, flexibility policies and more.  It surveyed the availability, usage and tracking of programs, as well as the accountability of managers who oversee them. The 100 Best Companies are profiled on the Best Companies channel on workingmother.com.

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories.  These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan's, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.  The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO).  For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

SOURCE Diageo North America