Amazon has announced the launch of Amazon FamilyFlex in an effort to provide employees with more flexibility and access to benefits.
The new program offers employees benefits to help improve their work-life balance, such as pregnancy and parental leave, adoption assistance, shift swaps, and customized schedules.
“Work-life balance is something that’s very important to me. Being able to choose my own schedule allows me to spend time with my daughter,” said Brittany Hartso, an hourly employee at Amazon’s Springfield, Virginia fulfillment center. “A lot of people can’t take their kids to school and pick them up as well. I’m able to do that every day and I love it.”
For the 500,000 eligible employees seeking to swap shifts, they can do so either ahead of time or at the last minute in case of unexpected life events.
Additionally, workers across Amazon’s fulfillment center network can create their own schedule with Anytime Shifts which allows them to pick the time and type of shift that works best for their preference. So far, the company has 23,000 roles open that qualify for this option and over 100,000 current employees have already utilized it.
Amazon has also introduced its “Anytime Pay” program that allows certain U.S. employees to transfer their earnings since their last paycheck to a paycard, which can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted.