Washington Dental Service Commute Profile

Representing Washington Dental Service: (From left to right) Susan Johansson, Nancy Johnson.

Washington Dental Service, a dental benefits company located in North Seattle, won a Diamond Award in 1996 for its excellent telework program. Important elements in building that program, management support and leadership, are the reasons Washington Dental is again being recognized with a Diamond Award.

Washington Dental Service finds great value in its telework program because it helps its employees balance the demands of their work with the demands of their personal lives. Besides the extensive telework program, which includes over half of its workforce, Washington Dental Service provides its employees with many commuting benefits.

All employees receive a fully paid FlexPass good on all King County Metro routes. Employees who vanpool receive a $40 subsidy per month towards their vanpool fare. Teleworkers, carpoolers, walkers, and bicyclists receive a $15 subsidy each month they use the commute option 80% of the time, or $10 if they use it 40%. Priority parking is provided to all carpools and vanpools, plus all employees who commute other than by single occupant vehicle get a guaranteed ride home in case of an emergency or illness.

Happy employees and good corporate citizenship important
Management recognizes that by using transit or riding in carpools and vanpools, employees reduce long and stressful commutes, thanks to the HOV lanes, and arrive at work on time. Additionally, employees are happy with the many benefits they receive as a result of the commute trip reduction program, especially the ability to telework. Satisfied employees equal higher retention rates and easier recruiting efforts.

Jim Garrison, president and CEO, has always been a strong supporter of teleworking. Garrison, who lives in Mt. Vernon, teleworks whenever possible, viewing it as a productive alternative to sitting in traffic every day of the week.

“We view our investment in commute trip reduction in two ways,” explains Tracy Peterson, vice president, public affairs and external relations. “First, we are committed to doing whatever we can to reduce stress and protect the safety of our employees. Facilitating their coming and going to work is one way we can make a contribution to this. Second, Washington Dental Service is a good corporate citizen and, as such, we support initiatives such as commute trip reduction, which effectively addresses a key community issue, that of transportation.”

One ongoing task for the Human Resources department is to keep all employees informed about the wide variety of commute options available. This is done monthly via emails and the company's newsletter. Also, each month when subsidy money is handed out, it is put in a brightly colored envelope with “CTR” printed all over it. This generates questions from those around the rewarded employees and is a constant reminder that Washington Dental Service takes commute trip reduction seriously.

*Some definitions: An “ETC” is the staff-level employee transportation coordinator responsible for the daily administration of the transportation program; “PM” is the transportation program manager; and “CEO” refers to the top management-level person at the worksite. “SOV” stands for single-occupant vehicle, and “CTR” for commute trip reduction.