Amazon provides emergency family care for 650,000 employees

Amazon provides emergency backup child care for 650,000 employees

Technology giant Amazon is offering subsidised family care to 650,000 full and part-time employees in the US.

The benefit, provided by Care.com, will provide an employee with up to 10 days of subsidised emergency back-up child or adult care between 4 June 2020 and 2 October 2020.

Amazon employees will have to pay $25 (£19) a day for in-centre childcare, or $5 (£3.99) per hour for an in-home child or adult care, while the organisation will cover more than 90% of the cost of the service.

This new scheme sits alongside the plethora of benefits that Amazon has launched to support its employees during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, including extra pay for full and part-time employees, and a relief fund for partners and seasonal employees facing financial hardship or quarantine.

Beth Galetti, senior vice president of human resources at Amazon, said: “We’ve heard from our employees that access to affordable family care, for both children and adults, is particularly challenging during the Coronavirus crisis and we are committed to supporting them in this unprecedented time.”

“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) [pension] plan, and 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, among others.”