Worker-Owned, Cooperative Home Care Agencies Named “Best for the Workers”
Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) and Home Care Associates (HCA) — worker-owned home care companies based in the Bronx and Philadelphia, respectively — were honored with placement on the “B Corp Best for the Workers List” released on September 3.
B Lab, the nonprofit organization that certifies B Corporations and governs the “B Impact Assessment,” recognized the home care agencies for “creating the most positive impact for their workers.”
The “B Corp Best for the Workers List” honors businesses that earned an overall score in the top 10 percent of all Certified B Corporations for their positive impact on their workforces, as measured by the B Impact Assessment, a comprehensive assessment used by more than 10,000 businesses to measure their impact on their workers, community, and the environment.
The assessment includes metrics regarding worker ownership, compensation and benefits, management and worker communication, training and education, work environment, and occupational health and safety.
“The ‘B Corp Best for Workers’ honorees are the companies people want to work for and invest in because they’ve proven they’re the best of the best by meeting rigorous, comprehensive third party standards people can trust,” said Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab.
CHCA and HCA, both affiliated with PHI, are two of 79 companies across 39 industries and 6 countries to be named to the B Corp Best for the Workers List, the third installment in the B Lab’s 2013 “B Corp Best for the World” series. CHCA was ranked fourth, and HCA seventh, in worker impact among the 79 companies.
Both CHCA and HCA became Certified B Corporations in 2012, the first home care companies in the nation to earn this distinction. Certified B Corporations are companies that “use the power of business for good and meet rigorous standards of overall social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.”
“Becoming a B Corporation has helped Home Care Associates to add new ways to assess our work to improve the jobs held by the workers who own our company, and improve the quality of care for the communities we serve,” said HCA President Karen Kulp. “We appreciate this recognition, and the chance to grow and learn with other organizations dedicated to positive social impact, across the country.”
— by Deane Beebe
