Supporting our employees’ well-being has always been a priority at Zendesk. As we’ve dealt with the ongoing impacts of a global pandemic, natural disasters, the Russia-Ukraine war, and various legislative efforts to impede on the rights of women and LGBTQI+ people, we are evolving what we deliver through our global wellness and benefit programs to ensure our team feels included and supported.

We continually look at how to reinforce our values of community and inclusivity, and our commitment to being a champion of empathy. As a result, we have launched new benefits for employees so they can be there for their families when it is most important. Earlier this year, for example, we introduced two new additions to our leave entitlements to help our employees take the time they need to care for themselves and their loved ones:

Expanded emergency time off: As the pandemic continues, we have transitioned from a temporary COVID-19 Caregiver Leave Policy to an Emergency Time Off Policy that gives employees up to 10 days of paid leave to cover any critical needs, including natural disasters.

Vaccination time off: Zendesk remains committed to doing all we can to support the safety of our employees and their communities, and help stop the spread of COVID-19. To further support employees and their families and the time needed for booster and child vaccinations, we doubled the vaccination paid time off from 8 to 16 hours.

We also believe we play a critical role in promoting, respecting, and advancing equal rights. As such, access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, is a workforce issue and is central to gender equity and full participation in the workplace.

In September last year, we signed the “Don’t Ban Equality” statement opposing legislation like Texas Senate Bill 8. In January of this year, we implemented a new leave entitlement for pregnancy loss, including abortion or miscarriage, which offers employees who are pregnant, the partner of a pregnant person, or a surrogate parent up to 15 days of paid time off. This new policy was created with a specific lens to ensure equity during pregnancy loss, which we view as not only isolated to one gender or family type.

And recently, in light of the recent news that access to reproductive healthcare could be restricted if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, Zendesk announced we will provide travel expenses of up to $3,000 annually for U.S. employees who need to travel for access to reproductive care, including abortion. This coverage, via our medical insurance plan, is available to all employees and extends to spouses and dependents, in all states that could be impacted by any legislation changes.

For more information about our wellbeing benefits and tools for employees, please reach out to press@zendesk.com.