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Argonne National Laboratory

Winning year: 2007
Industry: Government - Federal
Location: Argonne, IL
URL: www.anl.gov

Highlights of 2007 Winning Strategies

Argonne National Laboratory encourages retiring employees to join Argonne's "Special Term Appointees." These are retirees with specialized professional and technical knowledge who can fill temporary positions. Argonne offers four full-tuition competitive scholarships at the University of Chicago for employees' children.

Additional Policies and Practices:

• Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: To full- and part-time employees, Argonne offers these learning and development programs: tuition reimbursement, in-house classroom training, on-line training, certification classes, and off-site workshops. Part-time employees must work at least 20 hrs/week to be eligible for the tuition reimbursement program. In the past 12 months, 98 percent of Argonne employees participated in at least one of the training opportunities with an average of two hours spent in training. Employees take temporary assignments in other departments and on team projects to gain new experiences within the company. Senior staff provides leadership, mentoring, and team guidance.
• Benefits/Health: Full- and part-time employees (working 20+ hrs/week) receive individual and family medical coverage, individual and family prescription drug coverage, individual and family dental insurance, and individual and family long-term care insurance and short-term disability. Only full-time employees receive long-term disability. Health benefits for retirees pre-65 and 65+ include individual as well as spouse medical and drug coverage, dental insurance, and individual life insurance or other death benefit coverage. New hires are eligible for all of these benefits upon retirement except for the individual life insurance or other death benefit coverage. Argonne provides an FSA plan to assist employees with out-of-pocket health care costs.
• Benefits/Financial: Argonne offers a 403(b) retirement savings plan (with employer match) to its full- and part-time employees. Other than employer match, Argonne encourages employees to participate in the 403(b) plan by offering employees the option to choose to invest in lifecycle funds, and employees 50+ can make catch-up contributions. Employees receive financial planning information from the financial services firm that administers their 403(b) plan. Argonne offers long-term leaves of absence without pay to allow for caregiving. The company extends the following wellness programs to full- and part-time employees: flu shots, health screenings, health risk appraisals, smoking cessation programs, health club discounts, physical activity/exercise programs, weight loss programs, stress management training, and wellness health lectures. Forty-seven percent of Argonne's employees have used at least one of these wellness benefits in the past 12 months. Argonne also offers its full- and part-time employees on-site childcare and referral services to assist with childcare and eldercare. The company's Adoption Assistance Program provides eligible employees up to $5,000 for expenses related to adopting a child.
• Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: Argonne gives full-time employees a choice among the following alternative work arrangements: flextime, compressed work schedules, and telecommuting (also available to part-time employees working 8+ hrs/week). Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent or temporary basis.
• Opportunities for Retirees: Argonne currently has 2,531 retirees. Argonne stays connected with its retirees by communicating on a regular basis, inviting them to events, and formally acknowledging them when they retire.
• Age of Workforce: Forty-eight percent of Argonne employees are 50+. The average tenure of employees age 50+ is 19.8 years.