17. Microsoft
Microsoft
Average total pay: $132,023
For: Software Development Engineer*
Best companies rank: 76

Microsoft doles out stock awards -- not options -- ensuring that 91% of its workers get a share of the pie. Through a five-year schedule and annual stock grants, an employee has the potential for up to five grants to be vesting at any given time.

The software giant provides up to eight weeks of fully paid time off for new birth mothers. Dads and moms have the option to take 12 weeks of time away to care for a newborn, newly-adopted, or newly-placed foster child, with four weeks paid at 100% of base pay.

Benefits at the main campus in Redmond, Wash. include an organic salon and spa, certified-green dining, campus shuttle services and van-pool subsidies, and onsite sports fields. Microsoft pays 100% of health coverage for employees and their families, which can include fertility, acupuncture, and chiropractic care. Part-timers are eligible for health care for working just one hour a week.


*Most common salaried job
By Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz @FortuneMagazine - Last updated January 24 2012: 2:54 PM ET
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