Apple expands employee's parental leave and mental health benefits

Apple's benefits just keep getting better.

What you need to know

• Apple has announced new expansions to its employee benefits.
• Parents will now receive four weeks of full-time pay while returning to work part-time.
• The company is also doubling the number of counseling sessions they will cover.

Apple has announced new expansions to its employee benefits today. Reported by Fast Company, the company is adding new benefits to help new parents ease back into their work, and also expanding its focus on mental health by providing more counseling coverage.

Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail + People, talked about the balance that new parents have to maintain when returning to work after paternal leave:

"What we find a lot of times is people are really excited to get back to work. At the same time, they feel like they need to make sure things are really stable and successful at home. And that weighs heavy on people's minds, I think."

In order to help make that transition easier, the company is adding a new benefit on top of the 16 weeks of paid family leave that they already provide. When new parents return to work, they will enjoy a four-week grace period in which they will be paid full-time but only be required to work part-time hours. They will also be able to set their own schedule, as long as it meets the needs of the business determined by their supervisor.

Apple has also expanded family leave for parents that adopt by a further four weeks, as well as tripling its financial assistance towards the costs associated with the adoption. O'Brien explains that "there's more administration and complexity around adding to your family via adoption."

The company is also doubling the number of free counseling sessions that they will cover for employees every year, as well as expanding its telemedicine options. All of these new benefits will be available to all employees at Apple, including its retail team. O'Brien says the company understands the complexities and stresses of life's major events, and Apple wants to support their employees as best as they can through those times:

"I think many times working parents feel like they need to deal with that quietly and make it seem perfectly seamless. We all know life is complicated. So we're making it really clear that we're supporting them in that journey."

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