Police departments and military personnel count on Tactical Electronics' equipment to help defuse bombs and retrieve video in other potentially deadly situations. The people who create that technically sophisticated gear do so with the knowledge that what they build absolutely cannot fail once it's in the field. That makes it all the more impressive that this small employer at the top of Great Rated's…

Sometimes employees get sick. Sometimes employees have babies. Sometimes employees' babies get sick. Such illnesses, life events and family crises are an inevitable part of adulthood. So why do 43 million Americans working in the private sector still lack the paid time off necessary to deal with them?

That's a question the Obama administration has mulled since a working families summit in June. And the president recently …