L'Oréal Canada Inc.

L'Oréal Canada's physical workplace is rated as above-average. The company's new head office in downtown Montréal occupies two floors of a modern office building, offering great views of Mont Royal and the city below. Prior to moving to the new location, L'Oréal consulted employees regarding the office layout and furniture selections. Inside, the new head office features a breathtaking central glass atrium, an employee lounge (with comfortable seating, music, foosball; Internet kiosks for personal web-browsing); specialty coffee bar and music; bistro with fresh lunches, fresh vegetables and fruit; terrasse overlooking the forested "Bois-de-Liesse"; onsite daycare centre; onsite cafeteria (with healthy menus and subsidized meals); direct access to underground walking network as well as downtown shops, cafés and restaurants; direct Métro access for downtown employees; and convenient highway access as well as a car-pool sign-up system for manufacturing employees.

L'Oréal Canada's work atmosphere is rated as very good. On the job, employees enjoy business casual dress; casual dress Fridays; employee sports teams; organized social events. The company-subsidized social committee (called Le Club L'Oréal Canada) organizes a variety of fun events including a Christmas dinner-dance (with live music), a family day at the distribution centre, and regular cocktail parties and social gatherings to recognize significant company events. L'Oréal also organizes a summer party hosted during the company's "Sun Awareness Week" and offers monthly onsite massage sessions. Employees at L'Oréal are kept up-to-date through a onsite plasma televisions (located in gathering areas); a company newsletter; corporate intranet site.

L'Oréal Canada's financial benefits are rated as very good. To keep salaries competitive the company participates in outside salary surveys every 24 months. Individual salaries are reviewed every 12 months. In addition to competitive compensation, L'Oréal provides year-end bonuses for all employees; profit-sharing plan for all employees; matching RSP contributions (up to 9.25% of salary); life & disability insurance; and generous discounts on company products (to 50%).

L'Oréal Canada's health and family benefits are rated as above-average. The company's health benefits plan is managed by Sun Life. The plan is flexible to ensure that employees can tailor their coverage to suit their needs. As part of the plan, employees receive transferable health credits for coverages not selected. Employees who work 22 hours per week receive coverage. There is no waiting period before coverage begins. Employees receive full family coverage on the health benefits plan. The health plan also includes retiree coverage up to 65 years of age. The basic plan includes routine dental; restorative dental; eyecare ($175 every 2 years); traditional medicine coverage; alternative medicine coverage; massage therapy; medical equipment and supplies; homecare; employee assistance (EAP) plan; travel insurance. Discounted memberships at nearby fitness facilities; flu vaccine clinics in the fall and summer skin cancer screening clinics every summer. The company's family-friendly benefits include: maternity top-up payments (to 100% of salary for 17 weeks); onsite daycare centre; with 36 spaces; 7 childcare workers; and a 3 month waiting list for available spaces. Additional family-friendly benefits include: flexible working hours; 35-hour work week (with full pay); early Friday closings in winter (3pm) and summer (12:30pm).

L'Oréal Canada's vacation and personal time-off are rated as below-average. New employees receive 2 weeks of vacation allowance after their first year. Vacation increases after 2 years on the job. Long-serving employees receive a maximum of 5 weeks of vacation each year. Employees can schedule 1 personal day off each year, as needed. During the Christmas to New Year's holiday break, employees receive an additional 4 days off. L'Oréal Canada considers previous work experience when setting annual vacation for new employees. Employees can also apply for an unpaid leave of absence. For experienced personnel, the company considers previous work experience when determining starting vacation.

L'Oréal Canada's employee engagement program is rated as above-average. Employees receive individual performance reviews every 6 months. Managers receive training in how to conduct effective performance reviews. Performance feedback is also solicited from co-workers and other managers familiar with each employee's work. As part of the review process employees can provide confidential feedback on their manager's performance. New employees receive performance reviews every six months during their first three years on the job. L'Oréal recognizes exceptional performance with draws for gift baskets, VIP trips to company-sponsored events (such as Luminato, the annual arts and creativity festival held in Toronto), tickets to the company's box seats at the Bell Centre in Montréal, including concerts and sporting events, and weekend getaways and gift certificates from Birks to celebrate long tenures with the company. L'Oréal Canada sponsors its own in-house employee satisfaction survey. (Surveys are conducted every 24 months); L'Oréal Canada hires an outside consultant to conduct confidential employee satisfaction and engagement surveys. (These surveys are held every 24 months).

L'Oréal Canada's training and skills development program is rated as average. (The employer provides up to $2,000 in subsidies). In support of ongoing employee development, L'Oréal provides in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades internships; in-house training programs; online training programs; online employee skills inventory; formal mentoring program; new employee orientation program; formal mangement training program; international training programs (New York and Paris). L'Oréal recently launched a new in-house employee training program called 'Akademia L'Oreal Canada'. The multi-divisional program directly mirrors the training and needs of the company and is divided into several specialized learning modules, including marketing, sales, accounting, finance and supply chain.

L'Oréal Canada's community involvement program is rated as exceptional. L'Oréal actively supports a variety of local, national and international charitable initiatives. Employees receive paid time off to volunteer with their favourite charitable organizations. Last year, in celebration of the parent company's 100th anniversary, L'Oréal encouraged its divisions around the world refrain from hosting big splashy parties and look for meaningful ways to give back to their respective communities. For its part, L'Oréal Canada hosted a fun internal celebration and announced new partnerships with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada as well as support for an after school theatre project at a Montréal secondary school.

As part of its longstanding community program, L'Oréal Canada focuses on charitable initiative in support of women, science and education. The company's L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science program recognizes outstanding women in research. Through the company's ACTUA program, L'Oréal also encourages young women to pursue education and careers in science. The company and its employees have also provided support to the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, Le Chainon (a local organization that helps women in need of basic necessities), the Canadian Dermatology Association and UNICEF, to name a few. In a unique initiative, L'Oréal also operates a program called "Look Good-Feel Better", which helps women with cancer and is operated by employee volunteers with the company donating needed funds and various cosmetic products. In another thoughtful initiative (called What Touches You Touches Us), the company and its employees work together in support of specific causes closer to home. Last year, employees raised over $2,500 to purchase a specialized paragolfer chair for a co-worker's friend who had become a parapeligic after tragic accident -- the seemingly small but incredibly thoughtful initiative has allowed one employee's best friend to return to the links and resume his love for the game.

L'Oréal has also taken a leadership role in building a diverse workplace through well-developed employee education and recruitment programs. As a result of these efforts, the company has over 51 nationalities represented in its workforce and has attracted praise from the Washington, DC-based "Diversity Best Practices" organization. L'Oréal has also taken steps to integrate people with mental and physical disabilities into the workforce. In one initiative, the company works closely with a Montréal organization to provide young Canadians who have difficulty entering the job market with diverse work experiences through an in-house apprenticeship program. The company is also one of the first companies in Canada to provide an intergenerational training program to help employees and managers address and understand the differing workplace needs for individuals as they move through their careers.

In response to growing environmental awareness, L'Oréal also maintains three sustainable development committees, including the Waste Management; the Life at Work; and the Climate Change committees. The goal of each initiative is to raise awareness and educate employees about integrating environmental considerations into their day-to-day lives and to explore way in which the company can reduce its own carbon footprint. The company recently surveyed employees about their environmental habits and has introduced a number of environmental undertakings, from in-house recycling training to a dedicated environmental section on the corporate intranet.