Washington Post columnist Amy Joyce on Sunday examined recent actions by some companies -- "mostly large, influential ones" -- to "replace informal arrangements to get women back at work after having a child with written policies and systems." According to Joyce, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Goldman Sachs and PricewaterhouseCoopers are offering "unusual support and accommodations" to women looking to work after having children. PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte offer women up to five years of unpaid leave without health benefits. PricewaterhouseCoopers pays for training and certifications for women in the program, gives them a mentor and invites them to company events. Deloitte offers women some work while they are on leave, allowing them to "keep their skills sharp and their toes in Deloitte water," Joyce writes. According to Joyce, most of the programs are small (Joyce, Washington Post, 3/11).

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