Abbott Named Among the 'Top 10' on The Dave Thomas Foundation's '100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces' List

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abbott today was recognized as one of the "Top 10" on The Dave Thomas Foundation's "100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces" list based on adoption benefits offered to employees. Abbott is the highest ranked healthcare company on the list.

Abbott has a comprehensive work/life program that provides adoption costs of up to $10,000 for employees who want to start a family, with no limit on the number of adoptions per family, and gives adoptive parents two weeks paid leave for travel and bonding time. In 2006, 26 employees adopted 34 children, each receiving a financial benefit and two weeks paid time off through Abbott's adoption assistance program.

One new mom, Cynthia Chapman, adopted her third child this past July. "Without the support of my manager, colleagues, and Abbott's family leave center, I would not have been able to get on the plane without notice, take the time I needed to bond with my daughter, Charlotte, and organize my life to have a third child in it," Chapman said.

"By supporting our working moms and dads with our generous adoption benefits, Abbott is committed to innovative practices that help employees give the most at work and at home," said Steve Fussell, senior vice president, Human Resources, Abbott.

Abbott also offers a range of family-focused solutions, including an on-site child care center, back-up child care assistance, on-site parenting resources and counseling services, a full-day kindergarten program, and school holiday child care programs to help employees manage work and family responsibilities.

"Roughly 64 percent of Americans have had a personal experience with adoption," said Rita Soronen, executive director of The Dave Thomas Foundation. "This comprehensive list recognizes employers who excel at supporting their employees who adopt by providing financial assistance and paid leave."

The Top 100 list was based on survey data from CEOs and human resource executives at 762 U.S. companies. Employers were ranked based on their adoption benefits, such as the amount of financial reimbursement and paid leave available to employees who adopt.

About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a non-profit public charity dedicated to dramatically increasing the adoptions of the more than 140,000 children in North America's foster care systems ready and waiting to be adopted. Created by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted as a child, the Foundation spearheads programs such as Wendy's Wonderful Kids, which puts adoption recruiters in all 50 states and Canada to find permanent, loving families for children in the foster care system, and Adoption-Friendly Workplace, which encourages employers to offer adoption benefits to employees.

The Foundation also works with adoption advocates and officials to streamline the adoption process and make adoption more affordable for families. As the only Foundation dedicated exclusively to foster care adoption, we are driver by Dave's simple value: Do what's best for the child. To learn more about the Foundation's work, please visit http://www.davethomasfoundationforadoption.org/.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs 65,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.

Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at http://www.abbott.com/.