Amazon offers backup family care benefit until October

An e-tail giant is subsidizing the cost of emergency child and adult care for all of its U.S. employees. 

Amazon is partnering with family care platform Care.com to provide all 650,000 full- and time-part employees of Amazon and Whole Foods Market in the U.S. up to 10 days of subsidized emergency backup child or adult care between June 2 and Oct. 2. This benefit will provide each employee with a co-pay of $25 per day for in-center childcare or $5 per hour for in-home child or adult care. 

Amazon will cover more than 90% of the cost of the service, and will invest several million dollars to offer this new benefit over the next few months. The company said it was moved to offer the benefit as a result of new challenges experienced by working parents during the coronavirus crisis.

“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,” said Beth Galetti, Amazon senior VP of HR, Amazon. “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.”