Improving the Quality of Life for Employees     At Merck, we are in the business of improving the quality of life. So, it is only logical that we extend that mission to improving the health of our employees and their families. In addition to traditional medical benefits, we also offer unique options.     Long-term care benefits: As today's baby boomers age, many are faced with caring for their parents, which can be both stressful and expensive. To help our employees not only plan for the care of their parents, but also for themselves and their spouses, Merck offers long-term care benefits. Long-term care is available through our Flexible Benefits program, which gives employees the choice to select options that best fit their families’ needs. Merck introduced this unique coverage in 1991 and was one of the first employers to do so. Employee Spotlight: LifeWorks Makes the Difference in Mom's and Son's Lives Debbie Ruchalski's first call to LifeWorks was four years ago to find out about daycare options for her son. “Being a single mom on my own in a strange place, they sure gave me a lot of advice,” says Ms. Ruchalski, who works in Maintenance & Repair, at West Point, Pa. Last year, when she was unsure about sending her son, whose birthday is August 31, to kindergarten, she logged on to LifeWorks’ Internet site and ordered a tip sheet entitled “Making the Kindergarten Decision.”     Employee counseling: When Merck employees need help – whether to address a substance abuse problem of a teenage child or to get help for depression – they have immediate access to a professional counselor free of charge through the Merck Employee Assistance and Behavioral Health Care Program, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Counselors provide confidential support over the phone in dealing with stressful situations.     In addition, Merck has a free resource and referral program called LifeWorks, which assists employees in handling difficult situations both at home and at work. LifeWorks’ consultants provide information and referrals to local organizations on issues such as parenting and childcare, work/life effectiveness, education, eldercare, disabilities and work. Employees also can get information and tip sheets from the Web. In the past year, 23 percent of eligible employees used LifeWorks.     On-site Health Alliance Wellness Centers – Our on-site centers (i.e. fitness centers) are available to employees, retirees and spouses. Professional fitness managers organize a number of programs and events to encourage employees to eat well, manage their weight, exercise and participate in various fitness challenges. Acting in partnership with Merck’s Health Services units, the centers offer advice and programs extending well beyond just physical fitness. In the past two years, for example, they have sponsored lunchtime sessions on back pain, stress management, hormone therapy, breast cancer and arthritis. Employee Spotlight: Flexibility for Unique Situations Raul Rodriguez, born in Puerto Rico, works at Merck’s worldwide headquarters in New Jersey as marketing manager for Latin America. Mr. Rodriguez’ mother-in-law, who lives in Puerto Rico, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease a few years ago. One of the reasons Mr. Rodriguez joined Merck was because of the Company’s strong support of alternative work arrangements and willingness to accommodate his particular personal situation. Mr. Rodriguez has the flexibility to work from his New Jersey office or remotely from his native home in Puerto Rico when necessary. “I feel that Merck really cares about its people,” he said.     Flexible work arrangements: The 9-to-5 work day and five-day workweek are memories of the past for many Merck employees. That’s because we offer employees the opportunity to propose a flexible alternative work arrangement to fit their needs and tips for developing a business case in support of such an arrangement. Arrangements include job-share, flex-time, part-time, compressed workweek, remote working and telecommuting or a combination. All support the Company’s philosophy that what our employees produce or accomplish is more important than when or where their work is done.     Financial empowerment: In 1999, Merck was the first Fortune 500 company to offer all salaried employees a new online investment tool, the “Financial Engines Investment Advisor,” which recommends specific mutual fund investments among those offered by the employer’s 401(k) plans to help them attain their retirement goals. The Advisor is similar to programs used by professional money managers to handle institutional investment portfolios.     It’s not surprising that The Advisor has been a popular benefit among employees, given that Merck’s savings, or 401(k), plan, offers 22 funds in 12 investment categories. Our high participation rate – 89 percent – also points to the plan's popularity.     Through our Flexible Benefits plan, our employees also have access at a significant discount to financial planning and advice from Ernst & Young.     Another innovative program available to our employees and their families is the ConSern Education Program. ConSern provides information on student financial aid forms and offers fast, affordable and convenient student loans. Merck also sponsors the annual Kerrigan Scholarship Awards, which provide financial assistance to selected children of Merck employees for undergraduate study at accredited universities in the United States.     Opportunities for professional growth:     When a candidate joins Merck’s manufacturing facility in Riom, France, or our research laboratories in Rahway, N.J., or takes a position as a professional representative, he or she doesn’t just join the manufacturing, research or marketing division – that person joins a global company with worldwide opportunities for career development and advancement. Merck employees can take advantage of a wide array of educational and learning opportunities – those offered in-house or outside of the Company. Some of those opportunities are outlined below. Employee Spotlight: Helping Employees Go Back to School Sondra Radebaugh, now a professional representative in Columbus, Ohio, graduated last year with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication. The former administrative assistant did not have the opportunity to go to college when she was younger. She married early, started a family, but always “held on to her dream of earning a degree.” She joined Merck in 1990 as a field support secretary. When she saw several professional representatives in her office taking classes through Merck’s Educational Assistance Program, she approached her director and asked if she could as well. After she discussed the program with her director and finalized the criteria for assistance, Merck provided her with financial backing and she enrolled in nearby Otterbein College in 1992. She was offered a professional representative job right after graduation.     Educational Assistance Program: While Merck offers many in-house educational programs, it also encourages all employees to reach their full potential through formal education. That’s why for decades many employees have earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s through our Educational Assistance Program, which covers 100 percent of tuition, up to three courses a semester. All regular, full- and part-time, active U.S. Merck employees are eligible for educational assistance contingent on management approval.     Merck networks: Employee network groups also offer mentoring opportunities for employees with similar backgrounds or interests. Mentoring and affinity groups include: the Merck chapter of Professional Secretaries International, the Parents Network, the Black Employees Network, the Merck Women’s Network, the Hispanic Employees Network, and the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Association at Merck. The groups offer seminars that feature speakers from both inside and outside of Merck, who discuss a wide array of business and leadership topics of interest to network participants.     Rotational assignments: Rotational assignments are common at Merck and help to expand employees’ skills and knowledge of the business. Merck's Worldwide Human Health Division, for example, has created a unique rotational program called the Marketing Associate program which rotates junior marketers from outside the United States to our New Jersey headquarters for 6- to 12-month assignments. The program helps them develop a global perspective of Merck’s business, understand headquarters operations and broaden their skill base. Employee Spotlight: Gaining New Experience through New Assignments Abroad Tjasa Burnik joined Merck in 1994 as a Public Affairs Coordinator in Slovenia in Central Eastern Europe. There she worked closely with health care providers and patients, government and health authorities, media and the lay public to raise recognition of Merck (known as Merck Sharp & Dohme, in Europe) as an important and socially responsible research-based pharmaceutical company. In 2000, Ms. Burnik began a six-month developmental assignment with Merck’s Europe, Middle East & Africa Public Affairs group at the Company’s global headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. She returned to Slovenia in October with significant new skills and a broader perspective on Merck and its role in the global health care industry.      Demonstrating respect for the individual      Employees at all levels at Merck are held accountable for treating one another with dignity and respect as part of our performance management process. In fact, this is a leadership behavior specifically defined within the Merck Leadership Development Strategy.      Leadership: Since 1997, leadership ratings, in addition to overall performance ratings, have served as the basis for decisions on salary increases, bonuses and stock options. Throughout the year, managers gather information on the employee’s performance (“getting the job done”) and application of Merck leadership principles to accomplish the job (“how they are getting the job done”). At the end of the year, with input from multiple sources, including a self-evaluation from the employee, the manager consolidates the feedback and assigns a leadership rating and an overall performance rating. Employees who do not receive a high or medium leadership rating will not be eligible to receive either of the top two overall performance ratings.      Merck also demonstrates respect for the individual on a more personal level through its unique culture, programs, benefits and work arrangements, as the employee spotlight below shows.      Safety first: Merck is also concerned with the personal safety of all our employees, not only when they are on the job, but also when they are traveling for business or leisure. We offer defensive driving courses for those employees, such as professional representatives, whose jobs require them to be on the road much of the day. We have developed an Intranet site on global security that offers tips on how to avoid crime and assault on the street, in your car and in a hotel. It also offers security alerts for countries worldwide.      After hours: Life at Merck isn’t all about work. Thanks to the efforts of employee groups, it’s also about the diversity of our people and their interests. Employees gather at lunch and after hours to jog, bike and play a host of sports – from skiing and skating to baseball and basketball. There’s even a singles’ network. At headquarters at Whitehouse Station, N.J., a talented group of Merck employee performers offer after-hours entertainment to local non-profit groups, schools and nursing homes. Employee Spotlight: Helping Employees through Personal Times of Struggle In September 1998, Sharon Rabbitt, manager, facility services, was diagnosed with breast cancer. What followed changed her outlook not only on life, but on Merck. On the day she received her diagnosis, Ms. Rabbitt phoned Linda Lewis, director of human resources. “Not only did Linda answer my questions about medical leave and whom to contact, but she followed up with a personal note of support and encouragement.”     For the next month, Ms. Rabbitt met with general surgeons, plastic surgeons and oncologists, and underwent pre-admissions testing and mastectomy/breast reconstructive surgery. Ms. Rabbitt had surgery on October 17. She was not able to return to work until January. During her absence and until she had finished chemotherapy in April, her colleagues willingly assumed some of her workload, while her manager, J.P. Wort, assumed the rest.     Merck’s senior medical director in Whitehouse Station, Annie Buinewicz, M.D., also spoke with her and offered herself as a resource if she had questions or needed to talk.     “From the start, J.P. and his staff made it clear that my health came first,” Ms. Rabbitt said. “My job would be waiting. Whatever time I needed, I knew I could take.”     “Even before this happened, I was proud to be an employee of Merck,” Ms. Rabbitt said. “The Company has demonstrated on every level, its concern for me as an employee and as a person. My manager, my area manager and my colleagues have demonstrated their exceptional leadership qualities repeatedly.” Back to People

Copyright © 1995-2001 Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA. All rights reserved.