Apple Expands Employee Benefit Programs in Health and Wellness, Education, and Philanthropy

[MacRumors]

Apple today has announced revisions to a number of components of its employee benefits packages in order to retain existing workers and attract new ones to the Cupertino company, reports Forbes. The changes, which target both full-time and part-time employees, were initiated by Human Resources vice president Denise Young Smith and detailed in an employee-wide memo shared with the publication.

"I don't think these [benefits] would be immediately thought of," Young Smith told Fortune. "But for the first time we've probably got four generations in the workplace at the same time, and we need a plethora of programs."

New and updated benefits include perks such as educational reimbursements, expanded donation matching, and more. One major change is in the parental leave policy following the birth of a child. With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth, while fathers and other non-birth parents are eligible for up to six weeks of parental leave.

The report also profiles Apple's new "wellness center" at its Cupertino headquarters designed to meet the medical needs of its employees. Employees can seek treatment while at work with appointment wait times as short as five minutes.

The head of HR says 43,000 employees have already visited the center, which opened about a year ago and employs seven doctors plus a large team of chiropractors, physical therapists and dieticians. [...] Doctors work out of a central "pod" in the middle of the building, surrounded by a circle of examination rooms, which they enter through a different door than their patients. Inside, the paperless, minimalistic exam rooms hold a small table with an iPad and Apple monitor (what else?).

Many of these changes have been spearheaded by Young Smith, who took over the lead human resources position earlier this year. Young Smith's emphasis on the company's employees is part of Tim Cook's overall focus on people as well as the products that make Apple successful.

Besides these expanded employee benefits, Apple also has been working to improve working conditions overseas, requiring factory manufacturers to provide safe working conditions as part of the company's Supplier Responsibility initiative.

Article Link: Apple Expands Employee Benefit Programs in Health and Wellness, Education, and Philanthropy

 

[joshwenke]

Good! Working at Apple has always been lots of hard work, sometimes too much. Glad to see they're considering their employees more

 

[Piggie]

With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth, while fathers and other non-birth parents are eligible for up to six weeks of parental leave.

I assume this is paid leave yes?

 

[iBlazed]

Good on them! These are the types of companies I like to support. Costco is on the list as well.

 

[mikemch16]

My Bro in Law who works for corporate apple is about to have a baby. He was rejoicing when he saw this. I could sure use 6 weeks paid leave...

 

[Rogifan]

With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth, while fathers and other non-birth parents are eligible for up to six weeks of parental leave.

I assume this is paid leave yes?

Yes. Where I work we have a similar wellness center and it's really nice, much easier than having to schedule an appointment with a doctor for simple things like a flu shot or biometric tests.

 

[v654321]

Great to see that the Apple employees can still benefit from the old and classic non-retina MacBook Pro!

 

[NorEaster]

Nice, but....

The increase in parental leave is great! I can't wrap my head around why all companies (above a certain size and/or revenue threshold) aren't required to provide more parental leave in the US. Enabling parents to properly take care of their newborns not only is the right thing to do (from a medical POV), but I think it would foster greater company loyalty as well.

As for providing on-site doctors... I think that's a great benefit as well but the cynical side of me wonders if Apple is doing this to increase employee productivity. If I don't need to take an hour out of my work day in order to drive to a doctor/dentist/etc, then that's an hour devoted to working.

 

[d0minick]

fantastic.

parental leave needs to be expanded. especially for fathers. should make it law.

 

[KdParker]

My Bro in Law who works for corporate apple is about to have a baby. He was rejoicing when he saw this. I could sure use 6 weeks paid leave...

wow...that is nice and hope more companies follow their lead.

 

[oldwatery]

Very nice. Now how about paying your fair share of Federal taxes...like the rest of us!

 

[zin]

Wow, congratulations. Apple in late 2014 is now offering the amount of maternity leave (which we don't know if paid or unpaid) that has been enjoyed in most European countries for several years as a matter of law.

 

[o9ski]

With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth, while fathers and other non-birth parents are eligible for up to six weeks of parental leave.

I assume this is paid leave yes?

Don't assume. It may not be unless specifically stated to be.
In most places it is not. What you get is you keep your job and apply for state disability insurance.
It would be nice to hear from the people inside who saw the actual policy.

 

[rickmacattack]

With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth

Is that a reduction? In most other countries that would be considered a pretty poor offer. I'm not even sure that it meets the statutory minimum.

 

[Rogifan]

Wow, congratulations. Apple in late 2014 is now offering the amount of maternity leave (which we don't know if paid or unpaid) that has been enjoyed in most European countries for several years as a matter of law.

Yeah and how is that working out for places like Greece, Italy and Spain.

 

[nocturnum]

Yes. You hear us Apple? You are lightyears behind EU corporations and yet you boast about it.

 

[Rogifan]

Is that a reduction? In most other countries that would be considered a pretty poor offer. I'm not even sure that it meets the statutory minimum.

United States doesn't equal most other countries. Of course Apple has to follow the local laws wherever its employees work.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

Very nice. Now how about paying your fair share of Federal taxes...like the rest of us!

I believe that Tim's already gone on record telling congress that they don't have a problem paying their FAIR share. Two problems I see are the unfair corporate tax rates, and the spending of all those "Government Dollars" by our elected officials.

 

[nocturnum]

Yeah and how is that working out for places like Greece, Italy and Spain.

You American snob. These countries among other EU countries are far more human friendly than you could ever imagine.

 

[puckhead193]

Last week my company gave me a pen to borrow

 

[flur]

As for providing on-site doctors... I think that's a great benefit as well but the cynical side of me wonders if Apple is doing this to increase employee productivity. If I don't need to take an hour out of my work day in order to drive to a doctor/dentist/etc, then that's an hour devoted to working.

Everything they do will be to increase productivity or to gain/retain employees. The good thing here is that their interests align with the interests of the employees. We had medical offices when I worked at Merrill Lynch, and it was great. If I was feeling sick, I'd just go down to medical - no hassle of calling a doc, scheduling time off to go, sitting in the office when they were inevitably late, etc. No time off for flu shots. And if I needed a sick day, no one questioned it, as I'd been seen by company docs who had approved my sick days off. It was wonderful.

 

[palmerc2]

Very nice. Now how about paying your fair share of Federal taxes...like the rest of us!

Oh brother..............

 

[zin]

Yeah and how is that working out for places like Greece, Italy and Spain.

Pretty good, actually. Those mothers are still getting their paid maternity leave and the economies of those countries are not as bad as you're reading in the news.

The UK has 39 weeks of paid maternity leave. It certainly must be economically crumbling right about now by your logic. Maternity leave has very little to do with the state of an economy.

 

[Rogifan]

You American snob. These countries among other EU countries are far more human friendly than you could ever imagine.

And that's why their economies are in such a mess. I shudder to think what the world would be like if we all followed the work ethic of EU countries. Btw, on CNBC they just said it's looking like Europe is heading back into recession.

But I'll shut up now since this is getting way OT

 

[poematik13]

they need to make laws that make stuff like this REQUIRED.

most companies fire you as soon as they find out you're pregnant