Work Friendly is a team of passionate, intelligent, and resilient HR professionals. Not only are we all of those things, but beyond that, our team also is comprised of parents, soon-to-be mothers, and women from all walks of life. In light of the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, we have to normalize discussing reproductive health rights in all aspects of our lives, including at work, as they are critical to moving the needle forward in putting the human element back into the workplace.
Work Friendly, as a business:
- Believes all health care decisions are best determined by individuals through consultation with their health care provider.
- Is committed to supporting employees. Moving forward, Work Friendly will provide a $2,000 stipend in travel expense reimbursement to access healthcare services if team members cannot access those services due to legal, geographic, or personal constraints.
- Has designed our benefit programs to support the health and safety of all of our team members, and we have robust policies in place in order to support those who are expecting, trying to conceive, or are seeking abortion.
To employers seeking to understand & navigate where to go from here:
- Full stop; half of your workforce just lost bodily autonomy. They are scared.
- This goes beyond women’s rights, impacting under-resourced, underrepresented, BIPOC, and LGBTQ communities, and more.
Options to consider:
- Make space and provide your team the option for time off or camera-off meetings as individuals continue to process recent events.
- Create PTO banks and paid resources for those who now need to travel great distances to exercise bodily autonomy.
- Currently, none of the 23 states banning abortion have paid family leave. Revisit your policies around family leave and parental benefits.
Beyond that, here are other ways that you can help:
- Donate to one of these abortion funds.
- Check out Shout Your Abortion (SYA), whose mission is normalizing abortion and elevating safe pathways to access, regardless of legality. SYA makes resources, campaigns, and media intended to arm existing activists, create new ones, and foster collective participation in abortion access all over the country.
- Support Reproductive Justice Organizations like this one.
- Call your congressperson!
Most importantly, stay informed.
