More Than Half of Best Companies to Work for Have Broad-Based Employee Ownership

Of the 66 organizations on the Fortune magazine list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America that are not nonprofit organizations, law firms, or accounting firms, 38, or 57%, have broad-based employee ownership plans. Companies must have at least 1,000 employees to apply. Ratings are based on employee surveys and culture audits done by the Great Place to Work Institute. The percentage of employee ownership companies is almost the same in 2009 as it has been for the last several years.

Six of the companies—W.L. Gore & Associates, PCL Construction Enterprises, TDIndustries, Burns & McDonnell, CH2M Hill, and Publix Super Markets—are majority owned by their employees. Nine have only an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), 11 have ESOPs, 17 have option and/or restricted stock programs covering most employees, and one has a direct stock purchase program and internal market (CH2M Hill). The number of companies using restricted stock has gone up sharply from prior years, while the number of companies with only ESPPs has declined.

The May/June issue of the NCEO newsletter will have a complete list of the employee ownership companies on the list.