Social Responsibility

In 2012 the founders of Realityworks — Mary and Rick Jurmain –made Realityworks an employee-owned company. Through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), employees are given an ownership interest in the company. For Mary and Rick, this is just another way to impact society while rewarding employees for their contributions to the company’s success.

ESOP is a defined contribution plan that provides a company’s workers with an ownership interest in the company. In an ESOP, companies provide their employees with stock ownership, typically at no cost to the employees. ESOPs are governed by federal pension laws which set forth clear requirements to ensure all employees are treated proportionally the same.

Realityworks is committed to actively fostering diversity throughout our organization. Diversity encompasses many individual attributes, including gender, race, ancestry, language, age, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, disability, thinking styles, opinions, and life experiences.

Diversity in our organization benefits our employees, customers, company, and community. We strive to serve as a model for our local and corporate communities, demonstrating acceptance and celebration of our individuality, varied experiences, and diverse backgrounds.

Realityworks is committed to producing safe products. Products undergo thorough testing to ensure they comply with best practice standards for health, the environment and society. Product design reviews assessing the risk of injury, impacts on the environment, user interaction, and societal impact are executed throughout the product’s lifecycle. Realityworks continuously monitors the safety performance of the product in the hands of users. Safety records are captured and maintained to proactively address all known issues. Issues that arise will be communicated to users promptly, and if necessary, recalls will be initiated to ensure user safety.

Societal impacts from our products and programs are measured and tracked each day. Over our 22 years of existence, we can confidently say we have impacted over 6 million lives. Through our products and programs, we challenge participants to make healthy and responsible future life choices.

Social Accountability 8000 certification standards have been adopted for all major suppliers of our materials. These standards, based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and various International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, hold suppliers accountable for providing a safe working environment and protecting the basic human rights of their employees.

Each year Realityworks employees get the opportunity to nominate organizations to receive contributions of volunteer hours or outright donations for program assistance. Our community can look to us for support and assistance. Additionally, employees are encouraged to participate in local organizations’ committees and directional boards as a way to better our community through service.