The confidential employer survey consists of 57 questions, providing a comprehensive analysis of company benefits policies. Answers from the first 41 questions count for 1/6 of a participating company's overall 100 Best Companies score. The 15 Sustainable Practices questions count for 1/3 of a company's 100 Best Green Companies score. There is one open-ended question for additional comments.

Health & wellness:

1. Does the employer offer a health insurance plan to employees?

2. If yes, what percentage of the employee's premium does the employer pay? (If employer does not pay a  specific percentage, calculate average percentage paid for the typical employee)

3. Can employees cover their spouse and children?

4. If employees can cover a spouse and children, what percentage of the premium for these family members does the employer pay? (If employer does not pay a specific percentage, calculate average percentage paid for the typical employee's family

5. Does the employer offer dental insurance?

6. Coverage for vision?

7. Coverage for mental health care?

8. Coverage for alternative care (chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy, etc.)?

9. Does the employer offer fitness and/or wellness programs?

10. Does the employer offer life insurance?

11. Does the employer offer short-term disability insurance?

12. Long-term disability insurance?

13. Long-term care insurance?  

Time off:

14. How does your company handle vacation and sick leave? 

a. Vacation and sick leave are combined in a Paid Time Off (PTO) plan

• How many total paid days off do most employees receive after 1 year of service? (INCLUDE paid holidays in the total PTO days, whether holidays are fixed or floating in your plan.)

• What is the maximum number of PTO days employees receive per year? (INCLUDE paid holidays whether fixed or floating; DO NOT INCLUDE days accrued or rolled over from prior years).

b. Vacation and sick leave are offered separately

• How many paid holidays do employees receive per year?

• How many paid vacation days do employees receive after 1 year of service?

• What is the maximum number of vacation days employees can receive per year? (Do not include days accrued and rolled over from prior years)

c. Does not offer paid vacation

Scheduling at work:

5. Are employees permitted to work flexible or compressed schedules? 

16. Are employees permitted to telecommute or work from home?

17. Are employees granted paid time off for volunteer community service?

18. Can employees donate paid time off to other employees in need?

Work/family benefits:

19. Does the employer offer paid maternity leave to employees? (Disability, vacation and sick leave do not qualify)

20. Does the employer offer paid paternity leave to employees? (Disability, vacation and sick leave do not qualify)

21. Does the employer provide financial assistance for the adoption of a child? 

22. Does the organization subsidize employees' childcare expenses or provide childcare on-site? 

23. Does the employer subsidize elder care expenses for employees?

24. Does the employer offer employees the opportunity to set aside pre-tax income in a cafeteria-style Section 125 flexible spending plan for qualified child care or dependent care expenses?

25. If yes, does the employer contribute to the plan? 

26. Does the employer offer a cafeteria-style Section 125 plan for unreimbursed medical, dental, or other qualified health-related expenses?

27. If yes, does the employer contribute to the plan? 

28. Does the organization subsidize employees' transportation expenses?

Retirement plans:

29. Does the employer make or match contributions to the employee's tax-qualified retirement plan?

30. If the employer automatically contributes regardless of employee contributions, such as with a pension plan, what percentage of employees' annual salary does the employer contribute to retirement plans? (for example, 5%)

31. If the employer matches employee deferrals to retirement plans, such as with 401Ks:

a.Up to what percentage of salary will the employer match employee contributions? (for example, 3%)

b.What is the rate of match on those contributions? (If 50 cents on the dollar, answer 50%; if rate is tiered or variable answer assuming that employee defers maximum)

Career development and diversity:

32. Does the employer offer college tuition reimbursement to employees?

Does the employer offer paid or unpaid sabbaticals to employees? 

33. What percentage of the whole company's senior executives (VP or above) are women? 

34. What percentage of the whole company's senior executives (VP or above) are racial/ethnic minorities? 

35. Does the employer have a written non-discrimination policy?

Community service and incentives:

36. Does the employer donate money, goods or in-kind services to community or charitable organizations?

37.Does the employer sponsor any volunteer community service activities?

38. What percentage of employees is eligible to participate in an incentive plan, profit-sharing plan or gain-sharing plan, other than as part of a pension plan? 

39. What percentage of employees is eligible to participate in a stock option or stock purchase program? 

40. Does the employer subsidize or discount employees' purchase of stock?

41. Does the employer have an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)?

Sustainable practices:

42. Is sustainability part of the company’s mission?

43. Does company have a written sustainability policy and a statement of clear goals?

44. Does company reward and recognize employees for efforts toward sustainability goals?

45. Does company measure progress toward sustainability and share results both internally and externally?

46. Does company support and encourage recycling of paper, glass, metals, packaging and other materials at its Oregon sites?

47. Does company conserve water, such as with low-flow plumbing fixtures, banning bottled water and native-plant landscaping?

48. Is waste reduction, such as composting, reuse of materials, and minimal packaging, a regularly practiced policy at company sites?

49. Does company take actions to reduce use of toxic materials and chemicals?

50. Does company have a policy of making sustainable purchasing choices, such as renting/borrowing instead of owning and/or considering purchases with low environmental impact?

51. Does company support and encourage alternatives to single-occupancy-vehicle commuting, such as public transit passes, carpools, telecommuting, walking and/or bicycling?

52. Does company purchase or directly utilize renewable power and/or carbon offsets?

53. Does company practice energy efficiency and conservation, such as turning off unused equipment and using compact- fluorescent/LED bulbs and high efficiency appliances?

54. Has the company made its facilities and land more sustainable, such as selecting a LEED-certified building, weatherizing, rehabilitating an existing building with recycled materials, installation of solar panels, use of eco-roofs, etc?

55. Does company support and encourage a policy of buying local for materials, food, etc.?

56. Has company established a green supply chain, by choosing vendors and service providers who practice sustainability? 

Additional comments:

57. What unique or special benefits do you offer employees that make your organization a great place to work?