Amazon.com Inc. is launching a digital health-care platform for its Canadian employees.
The My Wellbeing platform provides employees with access to a range of health-care resources — including virtual physiotherapy sessions, a virtual gym, mental-health support and mindfulness sessions — according to a press release, which noted the platform runs targeted well-being campaigns and challenges to engage employees.
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Earlier this month, the company launched its WorkingWell program in Canada. It provides employees with resources to reduce injuries and encourage safer working behaviours, including physical and mental activities and healthy eating support. In a press release, Amazon said the program will be rolled out across its entire North American network by the end of the year, with the aim of cutting recordable incident rates by 50 per cent by 2025.
According to the release, one of the program’s main goals is to reduce musculoskeletal disorders — including sprains or strains caused by repetitive motions — which are common among new employees and account for nearly 40 per cent of work-related injuries at Amazon.
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Sonia Huang, a human resources manager at Amazon based in Vancouver, says the program has already received positive feedback from the organization’s Canadian employees. “Our main goal is to become the world’s safest place to work [and] the program was an important part of meeting that overall mission. We’ve partnered with health and safety experts and scientists and made improvements to employee well-being as a result.”
The rollout of these programs follows Amazon’s recent expansion in British Columbia, offering a range of benefits to new full-time employees. These include hourly wages starting at $16, along with medical, vision and dental coverage, a group registered retirement savings plan, stock awards and performance-based bonuses starting on day one, according to a press release.
Huang says these perks are competitive with what’s currently offered in the B.C. employment market. “We want to be a top employer, so we ensure we’re offering competitive benefits and pay for employees.”
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