Best & Worst of Employer Branding: June 2022
The government has failed to protect our basic human rights, and some employers are stepping in to fill the gaps where it’s possible. Which companies will use their employer brands to protect the rights of women, and which will not, will become clear in the coming months.
Following the official release of the Dobbs decision in late June, companies including JPMorgan Chase, Airbnb, and Block—the list is long and growing—said they would cover the cost of travel for employees who need abortion care but cannot legally access it in their home state. Outdoor brand Patagonia said it would cover bail for employees who are arrested while peacefully protesting in the service of reproductive rights.
The best and worst of all this actually remains to be seen. Dozens of companies have made public statements in defense of healthcare rights, but this is the beginning, not the end, and whether companies earn the title of best or worst depends not on what they said in June, but what they do in the months and years after.
The best: employers that make good on pledges to protect reproductive healthcare access
Companies that make a promise to protect access to healthcare and deliver will be one kind of hero after Dobbs and will reap the benefits for their employer brands in the eyes of an increasingly principled public.
It’s easy for JPMorgan to say it will cover travel expenses, for example, but not so easy for a small business to do the same. Don’t promise more than you can deliver, but deliver everything that you can.
It’s not just women’s access to abortion that’s taken a hit, the decision made it clear that the Supreme Court is willing to end the rights to pretty much any form of autonomy. What will employers do to ensure same-sex couples and their families retain access to their healthcare coverage? Will employers pressure state and federal governments to do the right thing?
The worst: employers that say one thing and do another
Employers that say one thing and do another will be relatively easy to spot, and so will ones that say nothing at all. What is more difficult to see are the ones that say one thing and only partially deliver, like those that cover abortion access for full-time workers, but not for temporary or contract employees, or those that publicly endorse healthcare access but silently donate to politicians that oppose it.
If your company says it believes in the right to reproductive healthcare, then it’s got to behave like it too.
Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about workplace culture, DEI, and hiring. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, From Day One, and InHerSight, among others.
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