What makes a family-friendly workplace?

This month’s issue of Working Mother lists what they categorize as the 100 best companies for which to work (in terms of their flexibility, parental leave policiesm, child care and general work/life balance for employees). Some of their top picks were Dell, GE, Intel, Microsoft and General Mills.

On one hand, it’s great to see that more and more companies are going above and beyond the Family Medical Leave Act with paid maternity/paternity leave, flexible schedules, job sharing, telecommutuing and more. On the other hand, it’s frightening that (I’d guess) this top 100 list represents less than five percent of the total American workplaces. Many of us are not lucky enough to work for a company large enough to be subject to FMLA. We’re left to welcome our bundles of joy and hope we have enough in our savings accounts to carry us through, let alone if we have a job if/when we choose to come back.

Think about the parents working in companies that are on this list (undoubtedly compiled a few months ago due to edting and printing deadlines) who are hoping to keep their jobs, let alone the family-friendly benefits they’ve come to enjoy.

Unfortunately, I foresee a big step backward in the months and years ahead. We will all be asked to work harder, longer and walk away from our efforts with less in our pockets. As much as I’d love to have a schedule flexible enough to make coaching a soccer team a viable opportunity, I’d rather have a job that’s going to give me financial stability. It’s a matter of priorities. Some things are easy and should be kept (e.g., telecommuting and nursing rooms) because they still make financial and environmental sense. Other things (e.g., paid maternity/paternity leave) may be a harder fight.

What do you think? Do you work for a company on “the list”? Are you seeing benefits getting trimmed as a result? What are you willing to give up and what cuts would send you packing?