Today we live amongst work-from-home stipends, corporate-sponsored gym memberships, unlimited paid time off, and reimbursed transportation to the office. We are no strangers to employee benefits. But to offer benefits is one thing - to make them available to all employees is entirely another.
This June, as we celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, we want to urge fellow organizations to show their pride through their corporate benefits - ensuring that resources & support are made available to elevate the needs of all employees - regardless of gender, sexual identity, marital status.
If your employee health care plan isn’t intentionally inclusive, it’s likely exclusive. Companies should ensure their policies encompass the breadth of employee needs. Evaluate your healthcare plan by considering the following questions:
Take popular furniture retailer, Ikea - by offering a plan that funds portions of gender confirmation counseling and surgery for its employees in the U.S., as well as supplemental life insurance and parental leave for its LGBTQ employees and their families, the company offers wellness options to care for each individual’s needs.
Employer-sponsored volunteerism is a critical way companies can help their employees create positive community change. This Pride month, consider how your company can encourage employees to further the missions of LGBTQIA+ charities.
As a part of their Citizen Philanthropy Program, Salesforce offers employees volunteer time off (VTO) and up to $5,000 in matching donations annually. Employees are given 7 days in VTO for skills-based volunteering, offering their help in ways personal to them.
Take a look at these organizations to support:
Having a child is one of the most significant events in any employee’s life. To be a supportive organization, embracing and encouraging employees to take time with their new children is a must.
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Etsy announced their 26-week paid leave for any employee becoming a parent - regardless of whether through the birth or adoption of a child. The policy does not try to distinguish maternity and paternity leave - instead, just parental leave. The policy also offers flexibility if they don’t want to take it immediately. Instead, parents can use that time as needed over two years to care for an addition to their family.
At present, many employee-sponsored fertility and family planning resources are inherently exclusive. Infertility is one area where LGBTQ+ couples are often excluded from access because of how infertility is defined. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, family planning benefits support, including fertility treatments, are offered by just 31% of companies.
Adobe is an example of a company that’s stripped back these limitations to make fertility benefits available to all employees. By offering the benefit without forcing employees to prove eligibility, this benefit is inclusive for all types of couples and parents to access.
