Wegmans Ranks Fourth on List of 100 Best Places to Work

The daily grind can be burdensome for many -- unless you work for Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., which ranks fourth on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list.

Only Google (#1), Boston Consulting Group (#2) and software company SAS (#3) bested , which has a location in , in 2012.

This is the 15th consecutive year Wegmans has landed on the annual list, according to a press release. The 79-store supermarket chain has been ranked among the top 5 for eight consecutive years.

“The only way to be a great place to shop is to first be a great place to work,” CEO Danny Wegman said in the release.  “When I visit our stores I see how our employees care about each other and about our customers.  Because of our people, we have been able to grow our business without compromising our values."

How The Selection Process Works:

• FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct an extensive employee survey in corporate America.
• Any company that is at least five years old and has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible.
• 280 firms participated in this year’s survey, and more than 246,000 employees at those companies responded to a survey.
• Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the results of the institute’s Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company.
• The survey asks questions related to attitudes about management’s credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie.
• The other third is based on responses to the institute’s Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts.
• If news about a company comes to light that may significantly damage employees’ faith in management, the company may be excluded from the list.

Founded in 1916, Wegmans has 79 stores throughout Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts. The supermarket chain employs about 42,000 people, and 2011 sales were $6.2 billion, according to the release.