New benefits for amazon employees announced

For Amazon employees, a number of new measures are being introduced to deal with the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Among them is a  backup family care scheme that aims to help employees with childcare.

During the pandemic, there have been many challenges for employees. In a recent survey, 90% of workers said they were worried about the effects of the pandemic.

Some of the biggest concerns included health worries, school closures and lack of childcare, and issues with remote work. In fact, the same survey found 36% of respondents were worried about the effect working from home was having on their work-life balance.

What is the scheme?

Amazon is offering a new family care benefit. This is available to the 650,000 employees in the US, including Amazon employees in Seattle.

The benefit is available through Care.com to all full and part-time employees working for Amazon and Whole Foods Market.

It will provide each employee up to 10 days subsidized emergency backup childcare or adult care, and can be used any time between name and 2nd October.

Amazon is covering 90% of the costs of care, which means the employee will need to pay a reduced amount of $25 a day for childcare or $5 an hour for in-home care – which can be for an adult of a child.

Beth Galetti, Amazon senior vice president of Human Resources said, “We’ve heard from our employees that access to affordable family care, for both children and adults, is particularly challenging during the COVID crisis and we are committed to support them in this unprecedented time.”

“This new child and adult care option will add to the comprehensive benefits we provide to all regular, full-time Amazon employees, including comprehensive health insurance, a 401(k) plan, and 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, among others.”