Monday, April 11, 2011

National Volunteer Week - Canada

Gym reimbursements and lavish company parties may be going the way of the dinosaur, but paid time for volunteering is one employee perk not yet in danger of extinction. Take UnitedHealthcare, whose company attorneys recently donated 600 hours of pro bono legal service.

Or Target, whose workers spend 450,000 hours annually on projects such as overhauling school libraries. At Gap, staffers can spend five company hours each month on causes like teaching underserved youth about job applications. 

VolunteerMatch, which pairs corporations with communities, expects skills-based volunteerism to double by 2015, thanks to a huge win-win factor: "Employees learn project management skills and improve their public-speaking skills," says Gap's director of employee engagement, Gail Gershon. "Obviously you want to get promoted, and this is a clear path to getting there."



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