Grant Thornton Is Trying to Keep Heinies In Seats By Giving Raises Enhancing Benefits
Aw, better luck next time, GTers. Maybe some good news on Dec. 17? Anyway, here’s what Grant Thornton sent out on Dec. 1: Grant Thornton has further embraced the changing nature of benefits by taking its traditional benefits package — which includes items such as retirement plans and medical insurance — and layering on a […]
One KPMGer ‘Annoyed’ By New Enhancements to 401(k) Match and Pension Programs
I wanted to make a comment about KPMG’s new 401(k) rules. As a recent US hire, the changes annoyed me in some ways. Here’s why: What the article (“Changes to KPMG’s 401(k) Contribution Policy Seem to Be Getting Positive Reviews”) didn’t mention or what your source material may have left out is that in addition […]
Changes to KPMG’s 401(k) Contribution Policy Seem to Be Getting Positive Reviews
In mid-July 2020, when public accounting CEOs were still looking at ways to slash costs because of the Rona’s impact on their firms, we started receiving tips from KPMGers about their retirement and pension plans taking a hit: KPMG announced this week they are cutting pension and 401k contributions in half for 2020. According to a 2018 […]
EY Threw Its Disgruntled Employees a Bone
It’s been well over a month now since EY announced it was moving away from its accrual-based vacation policy and going unlimited PTO, to the dismay of nearly all of the firm’s “entitled” employees. And EYers are still making their displeasure with the move known via memes and posts on the usual chatter sites and […]
Take Our Parental Leave Survey
Yesterday, Netflix announced that, effective immediately, it would be providing unlimited parental leave, at full pay, to new moms and dads for a full year. The company's policy is extremely flexible, allowing workers up to a year at regular pay, "or choose to stay home for a few months, return part-time for a spell and […]
How the Big 4 Are Helping Career Moms Have It All
The Harvard Business Review’s blog (Harvard blogs?) ran a piece earlier today about a recent Pew Research study that claims more women are not having children.
The HBR brushes over the whole birth control thing and serves its best interest by focusing on what they consider having it all (an advanced degree and at least one child), picking the following statistic out of the hay stack, “in 2008, 24% of women ages 40-44 with a master’s, doctoral or professional degree had not had children, a decline from 31% in 1994.”
This had me thinking about the benefits that the Big 4 provide to their employees going through early parenthood. What might surprise you (or might not) is how similar the firms’ services are.
From PwC.
From Deloitte.
From KPMG.
From E&Y.
Parental leave of absence: “Eligible primary care parents with three months of service can use six weeks of paid parental leave during the year following birth or adoption placement (three weeks for non-primary care parents). This is in addition to maternity disability benefits, if applicable, of 60% to 100% for approximately 8 weeks. Paid parental leave runs concurrently with any job-protected time under family and medical leave.”
Provided by every Big 4 firm:
Adoption assistance – Per EY’s site: “Pays expenses up to $5,000 per child (with an additional $1,000 for special needs children), with paid leave available for the caregivers, along with resource and referral services.”
Lactation program – PwC’s program, explained: “Access to educational materials, unlimited pre/post-birth counseling from nationally recognized lactation specialists and breast pump discounts are available through this program. Private mother’s rooms are also available in many of our offices.” Do conference frooms count as “mothers’ rooms?”
Parental paid leave of absence
Deloitte – 2 weeks (this is all I could find – can anyone prove differently?)
PwC – up to 6 weeks
KPMG – 8 weeks “Professionals who plan to return to work after the birth or adoption, are eligible for two weeks (10 days) of paid child care leave.”
E&Y – 6 weeks
Unique programs:
Family time off – The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 promises 12 weeks of unpaid leave for those employees who need to take care of a sick family member. E&Y extends this service to 16 weeks.
Back up Child and Elder Care – many of the firms provide some kind of support for employees when family care emergencies occur. KPMG takes things one step further by allowing employees to share their unused resources with colleagues that have depleted their resources.
Note – I used external websites when reviewing the different options – these might outdated from what you have internally. Does your local office offer something unique that is not listed here? Share details in the comments.