Family Friendly Workplace Award

The South Carolina Family Friendly Workplace Award recognizes those South Carolina employers, large and small, whose workplace policies, programs, and services demonstrate their active commitment to the employee's family responsibilities. Family friendly policies and programs may include:

• Child care assistance
  
• Elder care assistance
  
• Flextime
  
• Wellness benefits
  
• Tuition assistance
  

Clearly, employees benefit from a workplace that respects and supports their familiy responsibilities and that recognizes employees are not only "workers" but also dedicated family members committed to doing their best both at and outside of the workplace. Employers benefit from family friendly workplaces in many ways. Stronger recruitment and retention are obvious gains. Employee dedication and increrased morale are also by-products of the family friendly workplace. In some cases, reduced turnover and reduced health care costs might also occur.

The South Carolina Family Friendly Workplace Award encourages South Carolina to improve workplace policies supporting families and provide a family friendly working environment.South Carolina employers (for-profit, not-for-profit, and government), any size (minimum of 3 employees) are encouraged to apply. Organizations will be evaluated against the same or similar organizations. A panel of work/family advocates including past winners and other business leaders, human resources professionals and representatives of public service agencies will judge the applications and make the award selections. Applications for the 2005 Family Friendly Workplace Awards will be available online October 2004.

The South Carolina Family Friendly Workplace Award is jointly sponsored by the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, Office of the Governor, SC Department of Commerce, SC Department of Education, SC Education Oversight Committee, SC First Steps, United Way/Success By 6, SC Society for Human Resource Management, SC Diversity Council, SC Association of Nonprofit Organizations, and the Alliance for South Carolina's Children.

2005 Award Winners

• Star Music Company
  
• St. Jude Medical, Cardiac Rhythm Management Division
  
• First Financial Holdings, Inc.
  
• Schneider Electric - Square D Company
  
• City of Greenville
  
• Palmetto Health
  

2005 Honorable Mentions

• ZF Lemforder Corporation, Systems Division
  
• Carolina First Bank
  

2005 Family Friendly Workplace Award Profiles
2004 Family Friendly Workplace Award Winner Profiles
2004 Family Friendly Workplace Award Winner Announcement

For more information about the SC Family Friendly Workplace Award, contact Debbie Robertson at (803) 734-0479.