Columbus, Ohio — The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is excited to announce the 18th annual 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces leading the way in providing adoption and foster care benefits and recognizing the need for this life-changing support.
The 2024 list includes a diverse group of organizations representing 22 industries. Survey participants offer an average of $16,422 in financial reimbursement for adoption costs, up 10% from 2023. The average amount of paid leave for adoptive parents is 9.6 weeks, an increase of 6% since 2023.
The amount of paid leave offered to foster parents is an average of 9.7 weeks, up 3% from 2023. More companies are incorporating foster parent leave into their overall paid leave program and offering them the same amount of time off as adoptive and biological parents.
Organizations on this year’s list that offer the most robust adoption benefits include: Ferring Pharmaceuticals, NVIDIA, Liberty Media Corporation, American Express and MongoDB Inc.
Ferring Pharmaceuticals topped the 2024 list again, providing unlimited financial reimbursement for adoption costs and 26 weeks of paid leave to adoptive parents.
“We are honored to be on this year’s list and thankful to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption for continuing to recognize family-friendly workplaces that support adoption as one of the many paths to parenthood,” said Purvi Tailor, VP of Human Resources at Ferring Pharmaceuticals U.S. “It brings me great joy to help our people realize their dreams of becoming a parent. In the U.S., Ferring has been helping people become parents for more than 50 years, which includes doing everything we can as an employer to support the family-building journeys of our own people.”
The Foundation partnered with RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute, to survey employers across the United States and score participants based on three criteria: financial reimbursement, paid leave and the percentage of employees eligible for those benefits. In addition to the 100 Best list, the Foundation ranks employers by size, industry, paid leave, foster care benefits and impact.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Inc. and Ziff Davis Inc completed the survey for the first time in 2024 and are ranked on the impact list. This list recognizes organizations that employ more than 1,000 people and provide the largest overall financial benefits for adoption to the largest number of employees.
“We are dedicated to driving positive change in our communities through the work we do and the actions we take. Supporting our adopting families is one step forward toward impactful change,” said Michelle Dvorkin, Chief Human Resources Officer of Ziff Davis.
“The Foundation is pleased to recognize organizations leading the way in making adoption and foster care supported options for every working parent,” said Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “By offering best-in-class benefits, these organizations are demonstrating the importance of being equitable to all the ways families are formed.”
A growing number of health care organizations were recognized as Adoption-Friendly Workplaces and Adoption Advocates of 2024, including Children’s Health, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Children’s Wisconsin, Prisma Health, Saint Luke’s Health System, Inc. and Seattle Children’s Healthcare System.
The Wendy’sCompany is designated with Forever Family emeritus status after holding the top spot on the 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list for many years. The company continues its commitment by providing strong adoption benefits to employees.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption does not participate in the survey but offers its employees substantial adoption and foster care benefits.
View the complete 2024 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list and resources for employers at davethomasfoundation.org/AFW.
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About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national, nonprofit public charity dedicated to finding permanent homes for the more than 140,000 children waiting in North America’s foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking.
More than 30 years ago, Dave Thomas led an initiative advocating for better adoption benefits in the workplace. The Foundation has carried that legacy forward through the Adoption-Friendly Workplace program. The Foundation recognizes organizations that offer best-in-class adoption and foster care benefits, offers a toolkit to help employers develop their policies and shares stories of impact. Learn more at davethomasfoundation.org/AFW.
