Associated Industries of Massachusetts and PNC Bank today announced a partnership designed to celebrate Massachusetts companies that support working families – and to encourage other employers to do the same.

The two organizations are launching Best Places for Working Parents Massachusetts, the commonwealth’s chapter of a national effort to provide employers with the knowledge to make themselves “employers of choice” and attract workers who also have the responsibility to care for children or elders.

The initiative allows companies to earn a “Best Places for Working Families” designation by taking a three-minute online self-assessment that will be found on the AIM web site. Some 800 companies nationally have won the designation, including AIM and several of its 3,400 members.

Read the Boston Business Journal Op-Ed on Best Places for Working Families by AIM President/CEO Brooke Thomson and PNC Bank Senior Vice President Saskia Epstein.

In a tight labor market and a high-cost state facing population decline, Best Places for Working Parents Massachusetts will increase the commonwealth’s labor-force participation rate and pave the way for some of our best and brightest to remain in the workplace and fuel economic prosperity for Massachusetts and for themselves.

“Massachusetts employers who wrestle each day with a generational labor shortage, understand better than anyone the obstacles that face caregivers as they seek to return to the workplace or remain on the job,” said Brooke Thomson, President and CEO of AIM.

“But many of these companies lack the financial resources or knowledge to make themselves an employer of choice. The companies are frequently unaware of solutions other companies have explored, and uncertain how their employee benefits compare to fellow businesses in the same industry.”

Best Places for Working Parents Massachusetts, made possible by PNC’s support, will provide employers with a convenient online resource to explore their status for accommodating caregivers and options for improving that status. It will also connect Massachusetts employers to a community of like-minded businesses nationwide that recognize that family-friendly is business friendly.

The online assessment tells employers within three minutes whether they qualify as a Best Place for Working Parents. Employers receive immediate data on how they compare to other organizations in their respective industries, information on where they are outperforming their colleagues, and detailed insight on areas for improvement.

The partnership comes as Massachusetts continues to address workforce shortages by improving workplace access for employees with caregiving responsibilities. The Legislature included historic increases to early childhood-care funding through their Fiscal Year 2023 and 2024 budgets, created the 2021 Early Education Economic Review Commission in 2021, and released a Commission report calling for businesses to “identify and promote employer best practices.”

Governor Maura Healey in January announced her “Gateway to Pre-K” agenda, committing to universal preschool access for four-year-olds in all Gateway Cities by 2026; increasing the state’s Child Fare Financial Assistance (CCFA) eligibility from 50 to 85 percent of the state median income; expanding the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grant funding in Fiscal Year 2025; and signing an executive order recognizing childcare’s essential role in the economy.

According to a recent survey conducted for AIM’s Pink Slip initiative, many companies have implemented scheduling flexibility, remote work arrangements and other measures to accommodate employees caring for children or elders.   Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents provide Employee Assistance Programs (EAP); 67% allow employees to choose schedules that fit their caregiving needs; and 61% grant flex schedules for emergency elder care. Three-quarters of these companies experienced 10 percent job-vacancy rates during 2023.

AIM member companies that have already earned the Best Places for Working Families designation include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Alkermes, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Big Dipper Hospitality, Eastern Bank, Procter & Gamble, CGI Business Solutions, R.H. White Companies, Pioneer Valley Books,, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Chicopee Industrial Contactors, Commercial Distributing Company, Tech Foundry, Onyx Specialty Papers, UltraGenyx, Rocheleau Tool, Spear Management Group, Eastie Farm, The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Little Sprouts Inc., Hypertherm Associates, Dorel Juvenile, Seniorlink, Lantheus and A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies.

Apply to be a Best Place for Working Parents