For the second time in as many years, Western counts itself among Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2015.
Now entering its 16th year, the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project is a national competition to determine which employers lead their industries in offering exceptional workplaces for their employees. The list was announced by MediaCorp Canada on Tuesday.
“We are proud of the teaching, research, scholarship and service that takes place at Western, and grateful to all of those who work together in pursuit of our vision to be a destination of choice for the world’s brightest minds seeking the best learning experience,” said Amit Chakma, Western president. “Western provides employment for more than 13,000 people, and each individual plays an important role in our mission to benefit society through the work we do together, and to graduate global citizens who serve the public good.”
With 4,700 full-time and 8,700 part-time employees, Western joins 3M Canada and list newcomer Digital Extremes as the only honoured employers based in London; 46 of the 100 employers, however, call Ontario home.
“Each year, we see the baselines improve at the employers chosen for the Top 100,” said Richard Yerema, Mediacorp Canada managing editor. “From the small ripples that each employer’s initiatives create, we can recognize a wave that represents the evolving values of the Canadian workplace.”
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.
To create the list, MediaCorp examined the recruitment histories of more than 80,000 employers across Canada that it tracks for its job search engine, Eluta.ca. From this initial group, editors invited 35,000 active employers that created new jobs 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.
Judges Richard Yerema and Kristina Leung, Mediacorp Canada staff editors, cited a number of the reasons why Western was selected, including:
- New mothers and fathers receive maternity and parental leave top-up payments (to 95 per cent for 17 weeks), including adoptive parents;
- Employees can take advantage tuition support for courses, from $4,000 to unlimited per year, depending on their employee group;
- Is not only an educator of younger Canadians, but the university also plays the role of employer with summer employment opportunities, paid internships and co-op work experience opportunities;
- Mothers can apply to extend their maternity leave into an unpaid leave of absence and can take advantage of an onsite daycare centre operated by the YMCA;
- Most new employees receive three weeks of starting vacation as well as receive additional time off over the Christmas and the New Year’s holidays;
- Employees and faculty are encouraged to keep fit with subsidized memberships to the 160,000 square-foot recreation centre;
- Employees also work on one the country’s “most beautiful and historic campuses that offers great walking options along the Thames River as well as professionally landscaped grounds with numerous place to unwind during a busy day;” and
- With an eye to the future, employees can participate in free retirement planning sessions, take advantage of phased-in retirement work options when nearing retirement and save with a defined contribution pension plan.
In addition to the comments, each employer is graded by Mediacorp Canada editors on eight key areas; the same eight criteria have been applied since the first edition.
For Western, the judges gave the university the following marks: Physical Workplace, rated exceptional (A-plus); Atmosphere and Communications, rated very good (B-plus); Financial Benefits and Compensation, rated very good (B-plus); Health and Family-Friendly Benefits, rated above-average (A); Vacation and Personal Time-Off, rated above average (A); Employee Engagement, rated very good (B-plus); Training and Skills Development, rated exceptional (A-plus); and Community Involvement, rated very good (B-plus).
The grades in 2015 mirrored exactly the grades in 2014, when Western made the list for the first time in its history.
Only four universities – Western, Dalhousie, Simon Frasier and Toronto – made the cut for Canada’s Top 100 Employers. All the universities appeared on last year’s list.
Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada is the nation’s largest publisher of employment periodicals and guides. For 16 years, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the annual Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, which includes 20 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach more than 13 million Canadians through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners.
“It’s humbling for us to see employers across Canada taking note of what the leaders in each industry are doing,” said Anthony Meehan, Mediacorp Canada publisher. “Our project has never been about finding the most expensive or over-the-top benefits or employee perks. It’s always been about discovering the truly innovative and cost-effective initiatives that every employer in the country can adopt and improve.”
This year’s winners were announced in a special magazine co-published in the national edition of The Globe and Mail on Tuesday.