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12 Companies Boosting Benefits So Employees Don’t Feel Isolated or Lonely During the Coronavirus Crisis
Marguerite Ward | September 10, 2020 | Business Insider T he coronavirus pandemic has upended life as we know it for millions of Americans, causing feelings of anxiety, depression, and grief. The silver lining is that companies are stepping up to help their employees by expanding their mental health benefits. A recent survey of 256 companies by the nonprofit employer group the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions found that 53% of employers are providing special emotional and mental health programs for their workforce in the wake of the pandemic. These include changes in employee assistance programs, discounts on mental health apps, and more virtual service options like remote yoga classes. Here are 12 companies that have made changes to their wellness benefits in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Starbucks is giving employees and their family members 20 free counseling sessions a year.
Each employee and their family members will be able to access 20 sessions a year with a mental health therapist or coach through the provider Lyra Health, at no cost. The benefit rollout will impact more than 220,000 US workers and their family members, according to Ron Crawford, vice president of global benefits at Starbucks. Target is expanding its offering of online mental health resources. Target is offering its US employees access to free online
Employees can use the apps to improve sleep and deal with stress.
resources to support their mental, emotional, and physical health. Employees will receive a year of access to Daylight, a website and app designed to help users navigate stress and worry, and Sleepio, an app that provides self-help tools to improve sleep. For the month of April, employees will also be able to access free virtual fitness classes through the app Wellbeats. Before the pandemic, Target employees already had access to the company’s EAP program that, among other benefits, offers five free counseling sessions. PwC is offering employees access to well- being coaches. PwC recently introduced well-being coaching sessions where employees can reach out to a professional coach to
More than 220,000 US Starbucks workers will be able to access the counseling sessions.
Starbucks announced that beginning April 6, all of its employees (which the company calls “partners”) who work 20 hours or more per week will now be entitled to expanded mental health benefits through its employee assistance program (EAP).
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The Business Review | February 2021
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