Yelp
- A wave of anti-abortion legislation has become law in states like Texas and Oklahoma.
- Most CEOs are not speaking out about it, despite mounting pressure to take a stand on social topics.
- Yelp will cover employee travel expenses for abortions. A top exec explained the decision.
In an era when Americans are demanding corporate leadership on global issues, most CEOs have remained quiet on one of the largest of our time: abortion.
Some say it's because business leaders agree with new state laws restricting abortion access or it's plain "cowardice," as the Axios editor Dan Primack wrote. Or it could be because CEOs are "more than happy to stay quiet on issues for which making a fuss might actually hurt business," CNN's Allison Morrow said in a newsletter on Wednesday.
But a few executives are breaking the silence. On Tuesday, Yelp said it will reimburse employees who need to travel to access abortion services. About 200 Yelp employees live in Texas, one of the states to recently enact a near ban on abortions. Yelp joins the ranks of a few other outliers like Citi and Apple, which have recently announced similar benefits.
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman came out against the Texas abortion law in September.
"The effective ban on abortions in Texas not only infringes on women's rights to reproductive healthcare, but it puts their health and safety at greater risk," he told The New York Times. "We are deeply concerned about how this law will impact our employees in the state."
Corporate America is in a new era of leadership in which CEOs can no longer afford to stay silent on huge issues like racial inequity, voting rights, and the war in Ukraine. But abortion and reproductive rights seem to be an exception to this rule. On Tuesday, Oklahoma became the latest state to enact a near-total ban on abortions, following Texas, Arizona, South Dakota, and Idaho.
Miriam Warren, Yelp's chief diversity officer, offered her perspective on the issue, saying that rules limiting abortion are a restriction on equality and a matter of employee health and safety. In an interview with Insider through email, Warren spoke about why the company's leadership felt compelled to take a stand and the state of corporate leadership today.
Yelp
Yelp is the latest employer to cover travel costs for employees seeking an abortion. Based on the timing, it appears that the recent Texas law banning abortions after six weeks (titled SB8) was the tipping point. Why was that?
This is not a new issue for Yelp; this is a new benefit. Our company and our CEO have long been invested in promoting gender equity, the possibility of which is diminished when women don't have control over their own reproductive health.
SB8 was definitely a turning point and sparked the conversation about what we could do to support equal access to healthcare for all of our employees in the face of such draconian restrictions. Unfortunately, we're seeing laws that limit women's progress — in and out of the workplace — are gaining momentum in other states as well.
Walk me through the decision. How long was Yelp leadership discussing this? Whose idea was it? How long did it take to roll this out, and what did that process look like?
Our employees care about this issue, and they care about Yelp caring about this issue. In the wake of SB8, we immediately took a firm stance condemning the law. The Yelp Foundation also double-matched employee donations to organizations fighting against reproductive healthcare restrictions.
Initially, we were hopeful that there would be judicial intervention to stop SB8, and when that did not occur in December 2021, it became clear that we would need to approach our insurance providers about how we could evolve our benefits to make sure all of our employees retained the ability to get the medical care that they need.
As a distributed remote-first company with employees in all 50 states, we wanted to put a forward-looking and sustainable policy in place to ensure that whatever changes we made would support employees and their dependents, regardless of their chosen residence.
Why did Yelp roll out this benefit?
We've long been a strong advocate for equity in the workplace and believe that gender equity cannot be achieved if women's rights are restricted. The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, and we wanted to offer them consistent healthcare coverage.
Our insurance provider has always covered abortion and other reproductive services. Now they will also cover travel expenses for employees and dependents to obtain these services if they're locally prohibited. This benefit will be provided directly through our insurance provider to covered employees and their dependents impacted by current or future action that restricts access to covered reproductive healthcare.
How is abortion access a diversity, equity, and inclusion issue?
This is a restriction on equality that all employers should take a really hard look at. Measures that limit a woman's right to choose are damaging and have wide-ranging implications on women's careers and their lives.
Fundamentally, inclusion is about everyone having equitable opportunities for success. In this case, we're talking about approximately 50% of the population facing greater challenges to full participation in the workforce. Companies that profess to care about issues of equity, inclusion, and belonging must care about this issue, just like they should care about any barrier to success that disproportionately affects a particular population.
In order for our organization to uphold its values and provide an equitable environment where everyone has the same opportunities, we cannot stand idly by in the face of legislation that would limit 50% of the population's autonomy and self-determination in the form of how and when to expand their family.
This is a systemic issue that disproportionately affects poor women and women of color, who already have less access to comprehensive healthcare, including contraception. When compounded by the lack of access to legal abortions, combined with medical racism, these restrictive laws may lead to higher rates of mortality.
Execs are increasingly being asked to speak out on social issues. They're also being asked to care for the whole employee and be more inclusive. But for a while, company leaders were silent on abortion rights. Why do you think this has changed?
Fundamentally, over the last decade, the employee-employer social contract has changed. Our work is inside our homes and employees expect more than a paycheck; they expect to be cared for by their employer and to be able to show up in the workplace as their whole professional selves.
As an employer with a globally distributed workforce, it's crucial for us to consider the health, wellbeing, equity, and inclusion of all of our employees and to support them where they are. Access to abortion and, more broadly, reproductive health care supports equitable participation in the workforce for everyone – including birthing parents and their partners.
Any other thoughts?
The more this is talked about, the more likely it is that other companies will take a look at their own stance on these issues. I hope that by continuing to engage in this conversation, we can inspire others to do more to care for all of their employees.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/yelp-exec-abortion-travel-expenses-benefit-miriam-warren-2022-4