Bayer Inc. recognized as one of North America's 50 Most Engaged
Workplaces(TM)

TORONTO, Aug. 17 /CNW/ - Bayer Inc. announced today that it has been recognized as one of North America's 50 Most Engaged Workplaces(TM) by I Love Rewards. This annual award recognizes top employers that display leadership and innovation in engaging their employees.

"We invest heavily in our employees because our success depends on them," said Philip Blake, President and CEO, Bayer Inc. "We continually strive to improve facilities, programs and processes to keep our employees engaged and motivated. It is an honour to be named one of North America's 50 Most Engaged Workplaces. I would like to congratulate all Bayer Inc. employees across Canada on this great achievement!"

"The organizations included in this year's I Love Rewards 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Award have created an environment where engaged employees truly are their greatest assets," said Razor Suleman, CEO and Founder, I Love Rewards. "As a leading rewards and recognition solution provider helping companies engage its employees, it is an honour to award top employers who understand the importance of engaging their people. Congratulations to all this year's winners, you are an inspiration to other businesses looking to foster engagement in their own organizations."

I Love Rewards' 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Award(TM) panel of judges evaluated each applicant on how they measured up to other organizations based on the Eight Elements of Employee Engagement(TM): Communication, Leadership, Culture, Rewards & Recognition, Professional & Personal Growth, Accountability & Performance, Vision & Values and Corporate Social Responsibility.

The Bayer Inc. initiatives below are just some of the many ways the company differentiates itself and demonstrates the organization's commitment to its employees:

CareerFlexx enables every Bayer employee to build bridges between the opportunities at Bayer and their aspirations. The Bayer intranet houses an interactive guide to CareerFlexx - somewhat like a software wizard - that guides employees through the iterative, ever-evolving, five-step process.

Life at Work provides Bayer employees with a welcoming work environment including our quiet room and fitness centre. Employees develop their skills through professional development classes as well as personal development through a program called LifeSpeak, which offers a range of online courses including personal financing and work-life harmony.

Employee Communication is key to employee engagement at Bayer Inc. Our social media style intranet, home to President and CEO Philip Blake's blog, lets employees connect and communicate, features important information about Bayer Inc. and runs an RSS feed from the Bayer Global intranet.

Green Matters is our program to explore and facilitate innovative best practices that help the company and our employees make a positive and lasting contribution to our shared environment.

Corporate Responsibility involvement at Bayer Inc. has increased by 100 per cent in the last three years. We partner with both United Way and North Kipling Junior Middle School in Toronto. Our involvement with this high-needs school includes mentoring, volunteering for breakfast and homework programs, job shadowing, Science and Technology Day support, and a sports clinic with students and Bayer's hockey team.

Bayer matches employee charitable contributions, dollar for dollar up to $200 per year. Employees are also provided with up to two days or 16 hours per year to volunteer for charitable causes they personally support outside of Bayer's community partnerships.

About Bayer Inc.

Bayer Inc. (Bayer) is a Canadian subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international research-based group with core businesses in health care, crop science and innovative materials. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Bayer Inc. operates the Bayer Group's HealthCare and MaterialScience businesses in Canada. Bayer CropScience Inc., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta operates as a separate legal entity in Canada. Together, the companies play a vital role in improving the quality of life for Canadians - producing products that fight diseases, protecting crops and animals, and developing high-performance materials for applications in numerous areas of daily life. Canadian Bayer facilities include the Toronto headquarters and offices in Montréal and Calgary.

Bayer Inc. has approximately 800 employees across Canada and had sales of $853 million CDN in 2009. Globally, the Bayer Group had sales of over 31 billion Euro in 2009. Bayer Inc. invested approximately $50 million CDN in research and development in 2009. Worldwide, the Bayer Group spent the equivalent of over 2.7 billion Euro in 2009 in R&D. For more information, go to www.bayer.ca.

About I Love Rewards

I Love Rewards is the leader in results-driven rewards and recognition solutions. Top employers in North America choose I Love Rewards for its proven best practices in launching and sustaining successful, ROI-based programs. Our focus is to recruit, retain and inspire employees and align them to company goals. We believe that engaged, motivated employees drive the results most important to business success.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

For further information: or to arrange an interview, please contact Laura Burns, Senior Business Communications Partner, Bayer Inc., 416-240-5466, [email protected]; Sarah-Beth Anders, Public Relations Manager, I Love Rewards, 416-531-1531 x 0361, [email protected]