More employers are taking steps to prove that supporting employees in abortion care is a problem in the workplace.
Yelp is the latest company to announce that it will cover the costs of employees and their spouses who must travel out of state to obtain abortion care, the New York Times reports, in response to a Texas law banning the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.
Under the policy, Yelp employees will send travel receipts directly to their health insurer for reimbursement “so no one else at Yelp will ever know who has access to this, or how and when,” Miriam Warren, the company’s chief diversity officer, told The Times.
Yelp has more than 4,000 employees, with 200 in Texas, although the company says the benefit extends to workers in other states with limited access to abortion. On Tuesday, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill making it a crime to have an abortion punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, in an ongoing effort among Republican-led states to curtail abortion rights. .
Company policies that support abortion access are welcome, but it is “a small drop in the bucket,” says Laila Abul-Fadhli, director of federal reproductive rights at the National Women’s Legal Center.
“It is important for companies to realize that abortion is among the health care their workers may need,” says Abul-Fadhli. “The health and well-being of workers is essential for any business in order to attract and retain workers and show that you support them.”
Yelp’s policy change came on the heels of news that Citigroup will cover expenses, such as plane travel and accommodation, for employees in places like Texas who must travel to have an abortion, Bloomberg reports. The banking giant employs nearly 65,000 American employees, 8,500 of whom live in Texas. Apple, which is working to increase its presence in Austin, said the health insurance company will cover travel and medical costs for employees to obtain an abortion.
Other companies have responded to the Texas law since it went into effect on September 1. Lyft and Uber have offered to pay legal fees to drivers sued for aiding or abetting an abortion under the law, and the CEO of Bumble and Match Group has set up relief funds for people seeking abortions in the state.
Some employers, such as in Pittsburgh and Portland, support employees by providing paid time off to recover from the procedure.
Abul-Fadhli says changing HR policies is important, as is reminding employees that they cannot be discriminated against for using the benefit. However, she adds, “we can’t hash our way out of the abortion crisis we are about to face in this country.”
In December, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a Mississippi case that directly challenges the right to abortion enshrined in Roe v. Wade in 1973 and reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey In 1992 the court, which has a 6-3 Conservative majority, is expected to make its decision in June.
Abul-Fadhli says employers should consider how to change abortion laws that make it difficult to work in some states. Nearly half of US states already have laws restricting abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-reproductive rights research group.
Big business has “great political power,” Abul-Fadhli says, and oftentimes “has more weight than anyone else to call local lawmakers and say, ‘This makes it difficult to operate in the country’.”
Some companies, including Salesforce, have gone so far as to offer to relocate employees who live in states where abortion is prohibited. “We are getting to a place where people have different rights depending on where they live,” says Abul-Fadhli. “The bosses are not ready for the dramatic change that is going to happen in the country, and what it will mean for the workers who live in those places.”
paying off:
Pittsburgh, Portland is the first in the US to grant workers pregnancy loss leave
Jack Dorsey, Emily Weiss and 185 other CEOs sign letter calling abortion ban ‘bad for business’
A Supreme Court ruling on the birth control authorization issued by the Civil Aviation Authority could cost hundreds of dollars each year
Open an account now: Get smarter about your finances and career with our weekly newsletter
from Best One https://ift.tt/rUkD0wc
https://ift.tt/4uCX7DB
Comments
Post a Comment