Siemens Canada named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2014

Accolade reinforces company's commitment to workplace excellence

• Siemens' flexible health benefits plan, first-rate vacation packages and employee engagement programs cited among reasons for selection.
• The 2014 competition marks the fourth time Siemens Canada has been honoured with the Top 100 Employers distinction.

OAKVILLE, ON, Oct. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Siemens Canada has again been named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2014, reflecting the company's commitment to providing a fulfilling workplace environment and best-in-class practices for its more than 4,500 employees from coast-to-coast. Winners were announced today in a special feature published by Mediacorp in The Globe and Mail.

Cited among the reasons for Siemens Canada's selection to the list is its flexible health benefits plan that allows employees to customize their coverage to suit their personal needs and life changes. Employee also receives three weeks of paid vacation to start and share in the company's success through a profit-sharing and share purchase plan.

Among the innovative internal programs Siemens Canada promotes to continuously enhance the workplace experience, is its "Ways of Working" concept - a program that provides a flexible work environment, including telecommuting, to offer employees a better work-life balance. Siemens also operates an employee suggestion program that encourages employees to share their improvement ideas. Ideas that lead to savings or new revenues are evaluated for their impact and can lead to financial bonus payments of up to $100,000.

Siemens also prides itself on its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. Employees and management work together to support their charity of record, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, and have raised $1.5 million over the past 15 years to support the search for a cure. Siemens Canada also supports Habitat for Humanity and Tree Canada as part of its annual CSR calendar. A national employee-driven committee directs CSR Siemens' efforts across the country.

Now in its 14^th year, The Canada's Top 100 Employers competition is the largest editorial project of its kind in Canada, with thousands of employers taking part in each year's application process. The project's distinguishing feature is that its editors publish detailed reasons, providing transparency in the selection of winners and practical guidance for job-seekers about exceptional workplaces.

To develop this year's Top 100 list, Mediacorp examined the recruitment histories of over 75,000 employers across Canada that it tracks for its widely-used job search engine, Eluta.ca. From this initial group, editors invited 25,000 employers across the country that created new opportunities in the past year. Employers completed an extensive application process that included a detailed review of their operations and HR practices, comparing them to others in their industry and region.

QUOTES:

• "Receiving the Top 100 distinction is great news for Siemens Canada. It reaffirms our efforts to provide the best and most sustainable work environment, inspiring employees today and into the future and will help assure our goal of attracting and retaining the best talent."
  
   - Kim Velluso, Vice President, Human Resources, Siemens Canada Limited
  

• "Winning organizations consistently have leaders who recognize the importance of becoming an employer-of- choice, making it part of their organization's DNA from the shop floor to the boardroom."
  
  - Richard Yerema, Author, Canada's Top 100 Employers
  

About Siemens Canada 
For more than 100 years the innovative ideas from Siemens have helped make Canada a better place. From the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, more than 4,500 employees in Canada work together to provide answers that last in the fields of industry, energy, healthcare and infrastructure solutions for cities. Since it was federally chartered in 1912, Siemens has stood for technical achievements, innovation, quality and reliability. Sales for Siemens in Canada in fiscal 2012 (ended September 30), were $2.1 billion CAD. The company has 53 offices and 14 manufacturing/assembly facilities across Canada. Further information is available at www.siemens.ca.

SOURCE: Siemens Canada Limited