Home improvement retail organisation Lowe’s has enhanced its family-friendly benefits for more than 260,000 US employees and is to award a one-off bonus payment for hourly-paid staff.
The organisation has extended its maternity and parental leave arrangements to offer eligible full-time hourly and salaried US employees up to 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and up to two weeks of paid parental leave. In addition, Lowe’s has introduced a new adoption assistance benefit, which will cover up to $5,000 (£3,582.45) of adoption-related expenses for staff, such as agency and legal fees.
Previously, pay for maternity leave was covered by the organisation’s short-term disability plan. This enabled full-time salaried employees to receive 100% of pay for six weeks and full-time hourly employees received 60% of base pay for six weeks.
Lowe’s will also award a $1,000 (£716.49) one off bonus payment to its full and part-time hourly-paid employees who work across its stores, customer support centres, contact centres and distribution centres. This will be paid in addition to the organisation’s existing store-level bonus programme.
Furthermore, Lowe’s has reduced the eligibility period to enroll for the organisation’s health benefits, from 90 days of service to 30 days.
Robert A Niblock, chairman, president and chief executive officer at Lowe’s, said: “We are investing in our employees who make a difference every day in the communities where we live and work. Our employees are the foundation of our business, and we are excited to enhance our benefits to better meet their needs and the needs of their families.
“[This] announcement is another example of how we will continue to invest in our employee and customer experience as we continue to evaluate the impact of tax reform.”