Wyndham Worldwide Named 2010 Working Mother 100 Best Company

PARSIPPANY, NJ–(Marketwire – September 14, 2010) – Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, has been selected by the Working Mother 100 Best Companies initiative as one of the nation’s top companies for family-friendly benefits. With 70 percent of mothers working — and women outnumbering men in the workplace for the first time in U.S. history — companies like Wyndham Worldwide have been instrumental in supporting their advancement.

While the Working Mother 100 Best Companies continue expanding their benefits, those at companies nationwide(1) lag. Just 44 percent of American companies offer telecommuting (vs. 100 percent of the 100 Best), 17 percent offer formal mentoring (vs. 95 percent), and 37 percent offer health insurance for part-timers (vs. 100 percent). In contrast, all of the 100 Best Companies offer paid maternity leave, lactation rooms, flextime, mental health consultations and elder-care resources; and 98 percent offer health screening and wellness programs — particularly significant in a stress-inducing, poor economy.

“Twenty-five years ago, we made a bold decision to launch our Best Companies initiative and challenge businesses to address the unique needs of working mothers,” said Carol Evans, President, Working Mother Media. “The immense influx of women into the workforce demanded changes in workplace culture as companies strove to keep working moms’ talent and loyalty. Today, we celebrate our winners’ untiring commitment to their employees through an impressive array of programs.” 

“It’s important that our associates are given the support and tools necessary to be productive at work, to manage stress, tackle health issues and to maintain healthy lifestyles,” said Mary Falvey, Chief Human Resource Officer and Executive Vice President of Wyndham Worldwide. “As a mother myself, I can personally attest to Wyndham Worldwide’s passion to make our company a great place for women, especially moms, to work and pursue their careers. Securing a spot on Working Mother’s list is particularly exciting for us because we continually look to introduce new programs, opportunities and resources for all of our associates. We fully admire and support our company’s moms and their desire and ability to balance the rewarding yet demanding job of being a mother with their professional goals and responsibilities.”

Profiles of the 100 Best Companies, as well as national comparisons, are in the October issue of Working Mother and at workingmother.com/bestcompanies.

Methodology:
Companies were selected for the 2010 Working Mother 100 Best Companies based on an extensive application with more than 600 questions on workforce, compensation, child care, flexibility programs, leave policies and more. It also surveys the usage, availability and tracking of programs, as well as the accountability of managers who oversee them. Seven areas were measured and scored: workforce profile, benefits, women’s issues and advancement, child care, flexible work, parental leave and company culture. For this year’s 100 Best, particular weight was given to benefits, flexibility and parental leave.

For more information on applying for the 2011 Working Mother 100 Best Companies, visit www.wmmsurveys.com. The 2011 online application will be available in mid-December and due by early March 2011. All companies that apply, including those that don’t make the 100 Best list, receive feedback showing how they compare with all other applicants.

About Working Mother Media
Working Mother magazine reaches 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; WorkingMother.com brings to the Web home and career information, advice and a broad range of solutions daily. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Working Mother’s signature research initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, the most important benchmark for work-life practices in corporate America. Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corp. (www.bonnier.com), includes the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE, www.nafe.com), Diversity Best Practices (www.diversitybestpractices.com), the WorkLife Congress and the Multicultural Women’s Conference and Leadership Summits. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change.

(1) National statistics are taken from a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management.

About Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses nearly 7,200 hotels and approximately 607,000 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals offers leisure travelers, including its 3.8 million members, access to over 80,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 155 vacation ownership resorts serving over 820,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 25,000 employees globally.

For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit the Company’s website at www.wyndhamworldwide.com.