New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

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

Thursday October 2, 2014 9:54 am PDT by Kelly Hodgkins
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.

apple-jobs
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.

[ 119 comments ]

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
nocturnum
66 months ago

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.
Rating: 18 Votes
Avatar
Rogifan
66 months ago

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.
Rating: 14 Votes
Avatar
oldwatery
66 months ago
Very nice. Now how about paying your fair share of Federal taxes...like the rest of us!
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
zin
66 months ago
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.
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
iBlazed
66 months ago
Good on them! These are the types of companies I like to support. Costco is on the list as well.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
Mr Fusion
66 months ago

and completely broke.

You too pal. I'm American and I sure hope you aren't because comments like that are just downright embarrassing.

Without wanting to derail this thread even more, one thing I always find interesting in the debate about employee rights and benefits vs economic output, is that German and French workers are considered to be more productive than US workers: http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/which-country-has-the-most-productive-workers.html

Shhh! Don't say that, working in 'Merica isn't about productivity, it's a **** measuring contest to see who can work the most hours and then brag about it later. Slacker Millennials...

Work harder, not smarter. ;)
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
JHankwitz
66 months ago

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


Apple paid more taxes last year than any other company in the USA. They were audited and found to be following every tax law. How can you say they aren't paying their fair share?
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
zin
66 months ago

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.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
mdelvecchio
66 months ago

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


and completely broke.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
rdlink
66 months ago

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


By "human friendly," you mean socialistic to the point of overburdening the people who actually create wealth, and thereby crippling the economy? Or providing such a depressing socialistic society as to eliminate any form of individual ambition or initiative?
Rating: 5 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]