At Rich’s, we focus on the “Moments that Matter” to each of our associates in their career journey. One of these moments is My Rewards, which includes the benefits we provide to our associates and their families. We strive to create a benefit program that is compelling, cost-effective, and meaningful to an increasingly diverse associate population. To do this, we offer choice to our associates, allowing them to tailor their benefits to their own unique needs and interests.

We’ve evolved our Wellbeing Program beyond just physical health to address multiple dimensions of wellness: physical, mental, emotional, and financial. A variety of programs and content are made available to our associates so they can choose the areas of focus that matter most to them. The menu includes mindfulness meditations and practices, telephonic and digital health and lifestyle coaching, biometric screenings, health risk assessments, team activity challenges, individual habit tracker challenges, and digital education and content. An assortment of live and recorded webinars are offered on an ongoing basis on a variety of wellbeing topics. Through participation in the Wellbeing Program, associates can earn a premium credit towards their healthcare coverage.

Expanded counseling options through our Employee Assistance Program include both in-person, virtual, and text-based formats, allowing associates and their dependents flexibility in how they engage support.

We provide support to our associate-caregivers through an emergency, back-up childcare/elder care benefit for occasions when regular care arrangements fall through. Care can be provided through a network of daycare and eldercare facilities, in-home providers, or reimbursement can be provided through a “friends and family” care option where associates can source their own provider.

We’ve enhanced Life and Disability offerings to our hourly production workforce by both increasing company-provided benefits and offering an expanded menu of voluntary options.

We have revamped our Bereavement Policy to broaden its scope. We extended the definition of “family member” to be more inclusive and less prescriptive. The changes also included expanding the policy to include pregnancy loss or losses experienced through surrogacy or adoption.

As part of ongoing efforts to expand pay offerings, we piloted an earned wage access program with DailyPay, with the intention of broadening this program to all US locations over time.  This voluntary program allows our associates to access their earned pay in advance of their normal pay day.  This program allows our associates more control over their pay and helps to alleviate unforeseen or unplanned demands for cash. The program also provides access to free tools to assist with budgeting and savings.

We provide multiple healthcare plan options for associates to choose from, including high-deductible medical plans to traditional PPOs, allowing our associates to select coverage that best suits their needs. In addition to choosing their plan, associates can also choose from multiple insurance carriers. Comprehensive decision support tools are embedded within the enrollment process to assist associates in making their coverage decisions. Associate contributions to healthcare are tiered so that lower wage earners pay less towards their coverage than higher paid associates.

• Our annual post-open enrollment survey indicates high satisfaction with the healthcare choices (93%) offered and ease of the enrollment process.
• Through participation in our wellness program, associates earned over $1.3 million dollars in premium credits for their health care coverage.
• Our emergency backup child/elder care program has reimbursed associates for over 900 days of care since its inception in the summer of 2020, helping associates avoid unexpected work absences and use their time off intentionally.

Lauren Genovese