BC’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2015 Employer
Industry
Interest Points
City FT Employees in Canada
Perkins+Will Canada Architects Co.
Architectural Services
Offers signing bonuses for some employees, referral bonuses (to $1,000) and lets everyone share in the company’s success with year-end bonuses and profit-sharing for all employees — and offers matching RSP contributions; invests in employee development with financial bonuses for some course completions, tuition subsidies for job-related courses, subsidies for professional accreditation along with a range of in-house and online training programs; offers younger employees apprenticeships, paid internships and a mentoring program; helps employees achieve work-life balance with flexible work hour options, reduced summer hours and shortened and compressed work week options; a green architecture firm that walks-the-walk with transit subsidies, secure bike storage and shower facilities — 95 percent of head office employees ride, walk, take transit or carpool to work.
Vancouver
161
PNI Digital Media Inc.
Digital Printing
Is creating industry leading software for retailers across North America from one of Vancouver’s oldest buildings in the city’s Gastown neighbourhood; at work employees can enjoy an staff lounge with a popcorn machine, classic arcade video game, a DJ centre, Apple TV and free coffee from the espresso machine; smaller employer has responded to its growth with the addition of bigger employer benefits, from maternity top-up for new and adoptive moms to the recent introduction of a matching RSP program and discounted share-purchase plan; employees enjoy a summer barbecue, monthly socials on the last Friday of every month, movie nights, poker contests and on-site massage visits once a year.
Vancouver
135
Provincial Health Services Authority
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
Employees at PHSA’s main location enjoy on-site amenities such as a nap room, cafeteria (with healthy and special-diet menus) and subsidized access to an on-site fitness facility, with state-of-the-art exercise equipment and instructor-led classes; the hospital also features secure bicycle parking and on-site shower facilities; encourages employees to develop their skills through in-house apprenticeship opportunities, a variety of in-house and online training programs and subsidies for professional accreditation; helps cultivate high potential employees with leadership training, formal mentoring and career planning services; recently created an in-house wellness team and supports employee efforts to balance work and life with alternative work arrangements such as flexible hours, telecommuting and shortened and compressed work week options; employees can participate in retirement-planning workshops and make contributions to a defined-benefit pension plan; offers maternity and parental leave top-up payments for new mothers, fathers or adoptive parents (varies depending on employee group) and operates an on-site daycare facility that all employees may take advantage of when they are ready to return to work.
Vancouver
9,723
R.F. Binnie & Associates Ltd.
Engineering Services
As part of the company’s charitable giving program employees are involved in the selection of charities and receive paid time off to volunteer for their favourite charity; offers employees tuition subsidies for courses related to their positions as well as in-house and online training programs; supports its new mothers with maternity top-up payments (to 100 per cent for 17 weeks) as well as a parental leave top-up for fathers and adoptive parents (to 100 per cent for two weeks); employees are offered a profit-sharing program and are encouraged to plan for the future with retirement-planning assistance and an RSP with employer contributions; helps employees balance their work and personal lives with flexible work hours, shortened and compressed work weeks and telecommuting — and maintains telecommuter workstations for employees when working in the office.
Burnaby
106
Sierra Systems Group Inc.
Computer Systems Design Services
Offers new employee referral bonuses when employees successfully recruit a new candidate (to $5,000); encourages work-life balance with flexible hours, telecommuting, shortened and compressed work week options; offers retirement-planning assistance, phased-in work options for those nearing retirement and matching RSP contributions; reaches out to new employees with summer employment opportunities, co-ops and paid internships; supports employee development with tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions and subsidies for professional accreditation; new employees start with three weeks of paid vacation and previous experience is considered when setting vacation entitlements.
Vancouver
721
Simon Fraser University
Post-Secondary Schools
Supports employees who are new mothers, fathers or adoptive parents with generous maternity and parental leave top-up payments and manages an on-site daycare facility that they may take advantage of upon their return; new employees start with three or four weeks of paid vacation allowance to start and can arrange for additional time off through an earned-days-off program, depending on their position; helps employees with contributions to a defined-benefit or contribution pension plan, depending on their position, retirementplanning assistance, and health benefits that extend to retirees (with no age limit); the Burnaby campus features on-site amenities such as a nap room, employee lounge stocked with games, and free and subsidized access to the university’s fitness facilities, which include state-of-the-art exercise equipment, volleyball, basketball and badminton courts, swimming pool, sauna and shower facilities; for employees looking to reside in the city of tomorrow, SFU is home to one of Canada’s most exciting ongoing new urbanist development projects (called UniverCity) designed to encourage sustainable lifestyles in a community that will be home to 10,000 people atop Burnaby Mountain.
Burnaby
2,774
SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc.
Engineering Services
Offers employees profit-sharing and share-purchase plans and encourages saving for the longer term with contributions to a defined-contribution pension plan; starts new employees with three weeks of paid vacation and considers previous experience when setting vacation entitlement; reaches out to its next generation of employees through paid internships and a formal mentoring program and encourages employees to keep their skills sharp with tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions as well as subsidies for professional accreditation; offers shortened and compressed work week options as well as telecommuting and flexible hours.
Vancouver
156
St. George’s School
Elementary and Secondary Schools
Employees receive discounted tuition for children attending St. George’s, to 50 per cent; helps employees with retirement-planning assistance, phased-in work options, contributions to a defined-contribution pension plan and health benefits that extend into retirement, with no age limit; a rarity in the education field, the college offers new mothers and fathers maternity and parental leave top-up payments (to 80 per cent of salary for 15 weeks), includes adoptive parents; manages a generous compassionate leave top-up program for employees called upon to care for a loved one (to 90 per cent of salary for 15 weeks); continuing education is encouraged among employees with tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions along with subsidies for professional accreditation.
Vancouver
232
Surrey, City of
Municipal Government
Offers flexible hours, shortened and compressed work week options, reduced summer hours and telecommuting, varying with position; employees are encouraged to stay healthy with subsidized memberships to an on-site fitness facility featuring instructor-led classes; employees can enjoy lunch outside on the professionally landscaped grounds or grab a meal in the on-site cafeteria that features healthy menus items as well as take home meals; manages an academic scholarship program for university- and college-bound children of employees (to $1,000 per child); manages a large summer employment program plus apprenticeship and paid internship programs; helps employees with retirement-planning assistance, phased-in work options when nearing retirement and contributions to a defined-benefit pension plan.
Surrey
1,867
TELUS Corporation
Telecommunications
When complete TELUS Garden, the company’s new head office, will incorporate green features such as rooftop solar panels, a rainwater harvesting system and exterior terraces to provide outdoor access for employees; employees at the current head office enjoy a nap room, cafeteria (with healthy and special diet menus), employee lounge and games room and an on-site fitness facility, with personal trainer services and massage therapy; cultivates an ownership culture through a share-purchase plan, available to all employees, and offers additional financial benefits including signing bonuses for some, year-end bonuses for all and referral bonuses for employees who successfully refer a candidate (to $1,000); encourages employees to work from home through a formal Work Styles program, designed to help employees easily adopt flexible work arrangements where possible — the initiative aims to have 70 per cent of employees in major centres work from home or on a mobile basis part-time by 2015; further supports their efforts to achieve work-life balance through shortened and compressed work week options and reduced summer hours; provides maternity leave top-up payments for employees who are new mothers and offers a generous subsidy for in vitro fertilization (IVF) when needed (to $9,000); along with directing support to approximately 4,600 charitable and community organizations, the company hosts a unique annual Day of Service event to encourage employee volunteerism, with employees across Canada receiving paid time off to volunteer in their communities.
Vancouver
24,532
Employees enjoy working in a new LEED gold-certified head office that offers convenient access to public transit (of course) as well as a 2,000-square-foot fitness facility that includes subsidized employee memberships; employees can enjoy a defined-benefit pension plan; encourages employee development with paid internships and apprenticeships through to tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions and subsidies for professional accreditation; provides a maternity leave top-up for its new mothers (to 100 per cent of salary for six weeks) and offers parents the option to extend their leave into an unpaid leave of absence — head office employees also have access to an on-site daycare centre.
New Westminster
6,302
TransLink
Public Transit Systems
University of British Columbia / UBC
Post-Secondary Schools
Employees start with three or four weeks of paid vacation (depending on their group) and may apply to take self-funded or unpaid leaves of absence for up to one year in duration; employees can enjoy all that campus life offers, including plenty of eating options, lounges, subsidized memberships to the fitness facility that includes instructor-led classes and access to indoor and outdoor swimming, skating, tennis and even rock climbing; supports its young families with maternity leave top-up payments (varying with employee group), the option to extend their leave into an unpaid leave of absence and on-site daycare options — and parents with older children can apply for post-secondary scholarship (to $10,000); ensures employees continue their development with in-house and online training programs, subsidies for professional accreditation and tuition subsidies for courses related and unrelated to their current position; manages summer employment, paid internship and co-op work term programs; offers retirement planning assistance, phased-in work options for those nearing retirement and generous contributions to a defined-benefit or contribution pension plan, with the majority of employees enrolled in the defined-benefit plan.
Vancouver
11,294
University of the Fraser Valley, The / UFV
Post-Secondary Schools
An educator that supports ongoing employee development with full tuition subsidies along with in-house and online training and subsidies for professional accreditation; encourages its students to become employees through summer employment and co-op work experience programs; supports employees as they look ahead with retirementplanning assistance, phased-in work options as they near retirement and generous contributions to a defined-benefit pension plan; employees are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles with all the amenities a campus workplace has to offer, including two full gymnasiums with instructor-led classes and a selection of healthy on-site and nearby eating options — the campus is also an integral part of the city’s ongoing University District pedestrian focused redevelopment; supports its new mothers and fathers with generous maternity and parental leave top-up payments, up to the full year for new mothers and 37 weeks for new fathers and adoptive parents.
Abbotsford
865
BC’s Top Empl oy ers 2015
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