When employees feel their best, they do their best work — and taking time off to rest and recharge is an essential part of achieving that.
Studies show that taking time off work has positive effects on focus, mental health and productivity, yet many people don’t take advantage of their company’s vacation days. This is especially true in the United States, one of the few countries in the world with no federal paid vacation policy, and one where many workers report feeling pressured to be reachable online at all hours, whether on the clock or off.
So, how can organizations better look out for their employees’ well-being — and, by extension, their success?
WeightWatchers’ new wellness policies offer one promising path forward. In May, the company held its first-ever WW Unplugged day, a staff-wide day off with an explicit mandate for employees to step away from email and meetings and spend time doing something they enjoy. Later in the summer, they’ll have a full week off to do the same, followed by a final day off in the fall.
The company is also rolling out memberships to Care.com as part of its benefits package. The move will give team members better access to affordable and reliable child, elder and pet care — factors that research shows are critical in issues like employee retention and even workforce diversity.
Read on to find out more about the new programs and how the company is prioritizing all facets of employee wellness.
WeightWatchers is a wellness technology company offering digital weight-loss programs and in-person workshops.
Describe the guardrails your company has in place around paid time off. What practices have you implemented, and why?
As a health tech organization, we’re on a mission to inspire healthy habits not only for our clients, but for our employees, too. At WeightWatchers, our team members are expected to take a minimum number of personal and vacation days off to ensure they have sufficient rest throughout the year. Beyond this, their time off is unlimited. Employees work with their manager to take what they need.
In addition to our flexible PTO, employees benefit from 11 paid company holidays, seven WW Unplugged company-wide shutdown days and four paid flexible holidays off. That’s an additional 22 days off.
We know that remote and hybrid work can sometimes make it difficult to truly unplug and take advantage of our generous time-off policy. We also know that less time off can lead to stress and burnout. That’s why we launched our company-wide initiative called WW Unplugged, which offers our teams seven days to rest and reset: one at the end of May, a week in August and one on World Mental Health Day in October. During WW Unplugged, we take time off together as a team to disconnect, relax and do something good for ourselves. The only stipulation is that we fully unplug.
During WW Unplugged, we take time off together as a team to disconnect, relax and do something good for ourselves.”
How has this culture around PTO impacted employees’ ability to take time off? What feedback have you gotten about the culture toward PTO at the company?
We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from employees, especially since the launch of WW Unplugged. On WW’s #unplugged Slack channel, our team excitedly shared photos of how we unplugged in May. Family time, bee-keeping, marathon races, gardening and hiking are among the ways our team members spent the time away from work. Some people even hit major milestones in their fitness journeys. We’re excited to hear how our employees plan to spend their WW Unplugged week off in August.
What other perks and benefits or offerings help support employee well-being and the ability for employees to unplug when needed?
Well-being reimbursement: At WW, we take wellness seriously. Team members can take advantage of our generous yearly well-being reimbursement, which covers expenses under four pillars of wellness: physical, mental, financial and social. Mindfulness coaching, financial planning, fitness trackers and a yoga retreat are a few examples. Employees can also share this benefit with their families.
Care.com membership: We understand the importance of healthy work-life integration and believe the strength of our community shows up in the care we extend to our clients and each other. This is why we are excited to share that our team members now have complimentary memberships to Care.com for child, elder and pet care providers, date-night sitters, day care discounts, tutoring, housekeeping and more, as well as five days of back-up care.
Six months of paid parental leave: WW offers six months of paid parental leave to all benefits-eligible employees, including our part-time hourly employees.
