Citizens Financial is named No. 1 </br> Adoption-Friendly Workplace

'MY FAMILY and I will always be grateful to Citizens for helping us make our dream come true,' says Paula Cavallaro, center back, with husband James Cavallaro and their daughters, Amanda and newly adopted Anny. /
'MY FAMILY and I will always be grateful to Citizens for helping us make our dream come true,' says Paula Cavallaro, center back, with husband James Cavallaro and their daughters, Amanda and newly adopted Anny. /

DUBLIN, Ohio – The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption today announced that Providence-based Citizens Financial Group Inc. ranked No. 1 on its list of the 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces in America.
“Roughly 64 percent of Americans have had a personal experience with adoption,” said Rita Soronen, the foundation’s executive director. “This comprehensive list recognizes employers who excel at supporting their employees who adopt by providing financial assistance and paid leave.”
Citizens Financial – the parent of Citizens and Charter One banks, and a subsidiary of the U.K.-based Royal Bank of Scotland Plc – offers its 25,000 employees up to $20,960 per adoption plus one week of paid leave.
Those benefits are important to Citizens, said Katherine F. McKenzie, the company’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer. “We are all touched by adoption,” she said. “To know that Citizens had a small part in bringing families together is very rewarding for us.”
“There are so many children out there who need a loving home … and if help is offered, more families are apt to consider adoption,” said Paula Cavallaro, trust administrator at Citizens Financial, who recently adopted Anny, a 13-year-old from Colombia. “My family and I will always be thankful to Citizens for helping us make our dream come true.”
Ninety-five percent of Americans believe companies should offer adoption benefits, according to a June 2002 poll by global research firm Harris Interactive Inc., though only a small percentage of people – typically, less 0.5 percent – actually use them.
The Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list is based on a survey of CEOs and human resource executives at major employers nationwide, conducted for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption by Harris Interactive.

Companies are ranked by the adoption benefits and paid leave available to employees who adopt. The foundation also recognizes the top 10 by size, the leaders in each industry and companies who support adoption and adoptive families in other ways.

Two other Rhode Island-based firms also made the foundation’s top 100 list this year:

• Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc., which has 6,000 U.S. employees, ranked No. 26 for offering up to $6,000 and up to 6 weeks paid vacation to employees who are adopting.

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• The Washington Trust Co. of Westerly, offering up to $4,000 and 16 weeks of paid leave to workers who adopt, came in at No. 94. It has 475 employees.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – a nonprofit established by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted as a child – also offers a free “toolkit” to guide employers though the process of establishing adoption-benefits programs. Additional information on the foundation and its programs is available at www.DaveThomasFoundationforAdoption.org or by calling (877) 777-4222 toll-free. The foundation’s employer toolkit and the Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces in America survey’s Top 100 and other lists can be viewed at www.AdoptionFriendlyWorkplace.org.

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