On September 24, Working Mother magazine released its 17th annual list of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers," honoring corporations that value the needs of working families. The complete list appears in the October issue of Working Mother, on U.S. newsstands today and at workingmother.com. Working Mother magazine will honor Morgan Stanley at a gala awards ceremony at the Work Life Congress in New York on October 2.

This year, Working Mother looked for three basic trends among the applicants: no rollback of work/life benefits during the recent recession, an increased emphasis on flexible scheduling post-September 11, and augmented family leave programs. Working Mother's Editor-in-Chief, Jill Kirschenbaum, explained, "We're also seeing more and more working dads demanding work/life benefits, which turns out to be good news for working moms."

"Post-September 11, work/life initiatives have taken on even greater significance, with programs from employee assistance to telecommuting," Carol Evans, CEO of Working Mother Media, added. "Employees want to have flexibility to deal with family needs on a day-to-day basis, as well as in an emergency. Companies are winning the loyalty of employees who get the work done, wherever and whenever they do their jobs."