Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) were awarded last week with the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award for the companies’ support of employees in the military reserves and National Guard
The award was delivered to 15 companies out of 3,064 nominations, according to the Freedom Award’s website, and marks the “highest honor given to employers for support of National Guard and Reserve employees.”
Other companies that received the award included Cargill and Comcast NBC Universal according to the site.
Marlborough, Mass.-based Boston Scientific CEO Mike Mahoney attended the ceremony, held at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., to receive the award, according to a Boston Business Journal report.
“As a global medical technology company, we value the leadership, courage and skills that our service employees develop in the military. We are extremely proud of them and applaud their service to our country, our communities and our company – they are an inspiration to us all,” CEO Mahoney said, according to the report.
Boston Scientific reported that it provides full salary to employees during their 1st 30 days of military leave, followed by a paid differential pay for the remainder – up to 5 years of cumulative deployment time, the BBJ reports.
“We really do, here in the Pentagon, do our best to take care and provide for our men and women but you and your organizations go the extra mile and you make our jobs easier. Here in the Pentagon we say leadership casts a long shadow. Your shadow is long. Your employees see it. The communities you operate in see it, and it manifests itself at this level as the will of the nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said, according to a Department of Defense release.