Abortion benefits need more privacy controls

Even before Roe v. Wade was officially overturned, tech companies were using the opportunity to tout their new reproductive health benefits for workers. But what do the employees think about how their companies responded? A recent survey says it’s complicated.

The online job search company Indeed surveyed over 1,000 employees following the SCOTUS decision about their sentiments relating to their employers’ abortion health care and travel policies, or lack there of. The findings were clear: Most employees want their employers to take some kind of action in terms of expanded health care benefits, but there’s nuance to how they want them to do it.

Most employees want their employers to do something:

• 89% of professionals responded that it’s important to them that their company offers reproductive health benefits.
• And the number of companies willing to do so has gone up significantly over the past month. 43% of people said their company announced the addition of abortion care assistance to their benefits package — whereas before the SCOTUS ruling only 17% reported having access to such benefits.
• For most employees (73%), expanded benefits are coming in the form of financial assistance for abortion care services, while 60% said their new benefits provide financial assistance specifically for travel expenses.

Employees say the support is not all-encompassing. There is some nuance to what and who companies will and will not cover.

• According to the survey, 54% of people said abortion care assistance is provided only to full-time employees.
• Only about a third (32%) responded that their newly expanded benefits cover the time off needed to receive care.

Employees still have some major privacy concerns.

• 82% of respondents who have access to abortion care assistance said their benefits program requires them to disclose their abortion needs to their direct manager.
• 15% of the people who said they’re required to disclose their abortion needs to a direct manager said they wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so.
• In fact, most employees (74%) said they’re worried about their privacy if they did choose to use their company’s policy. 72% of people at the time of the survey said they are concerned about the legal implications.

Because of this, leaders say it’s more important than ever to communicate these new benefits in a clear and effective way so they don’t go unused by your workforce. Scott Dobroski, VP of corporate communications at Indeed, shared some best practices for communicating and deploying these more sensitive benefits.

• Keep it transparent and consistent: “What employers and leaders want to think about when they deliver this information is how are they doing it in a transparent, helpful way that is consistent with this recent news item, but also other current events that will unfold in the future,” he said.
• When delivering important benefits information, do what makes sense for your organization: “Remember this is not a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Dobroski. “Each employer should look at who they are as a business and an employer, and whoever is best to deliver the information related to a new policy or benefit should deliver that information. So depending on how small you are, or how big you are, it could be the CEO, it could be the CHRO or it could be someone with another job title.”
• Last, it’s important to understand that you can't please everyone. Dobroski said it’s best to be as transparent as possible with employees about how and why you’re responding to the current events in a certain way while also acknowledging that all employees may not agree. “You want to provide support for all employees, whether they agree with you or not,” he said.