Q&A with Anita Graham, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Q:     VF is undergoing a large-scale business transformation, which is leading to many changes across the company. You’ve also recently made changes to enhance your benefits programs for U.S. associates. Why?

A:     Throughout VF, we work with a shared Purpose: to power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and our planet. To fulfill our Purpose, we first must start with ourselves, which is why we work hard to help our associates and their families live sustainable and active lifestyles that enable them to be their best.

One of the ways we do that is bycontinually evaluating our benefits offering and listening to our associates’ input to ensure that we are providing market-competitive and comprehensive offerings. Our benefits program is designed to give our associates the flexibility to make the decisions that best fit their needs and the needs of their families.

Anita Graham, Vice President and
Chief Human Resources Officer

Q:     What are some of the enhancements you’re making?

A:     One way we’re supporting our associates and their families is with our new Paid Parental Leave program, which is designed to support all new benefits-eligible parents – maternal, paternal and adoptive – by providing up to eight consecutive weeks of paid time off within the first year of the birth or adoption of a child. This time off is in addition to any other approved, pregnancy-related time away from work, such as short-term disability. We believe that providing eight weeks of paid parental leave positions us alongside other leading employers of choice.

To support adoptive families, we recently introduced our Adoption Assistance program, which reimburses eligible adoption-related fees and expenses for our benefits-eligible associates.

Q:     What about employees who are not necessarily growing their families? What benefits enhancements will they see?

A:        We recently changed our income protection benefits. This year, VF began providing company-paid short-term disability benefits to our full-time, benefits-eligible hourly associates who are not already covered by a market competitive benefit through their state disability program. Prior to this change, hourly associates – including those in our retail stores and our distribution centers – paid for short-term disability coverage if they elected it. Additionally, VF recently began providing company-paid long-term disability coverage for all benefit-eligible associates.

Q:     How does the new eight-week Paid Parental Leave program work with the short-term disability coverage?

A:       We’ve taken care to integrate our short-term disability with our new paid parental leave to remove any potential income gaps between what is covered by the company-paid program and any state specific short-term disability, and when the new paid parental leave begins.

Q:     What other benefits does VF provide?

A:       We offer our associates access to many additional benefits. Let me offer just a few examples.

• All of VF’s medical plans offer pregnancy programs that support healthy moms and babies by providing access to a nurse during and after pregnancy, telephonic and mobile support, information and tracking tools.
• Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a free and confidential resource that provides all VF associates and their families information and services in support of their emotional wellbeing and resilience. It’s a great resource for parents to get advice for raising emotionally healthy kids - helping them deal with bullying, dealing with the loss of a loved one or pet, peer pressure or just adjusting to life transitions and changes. The EAP also offers referrals for things like children’s day care, summer camps and other family-friendly community activities and resources.
• Our national medical plans offer access to nutritional counseling to support associates and their families in healthy eating choices. New or expectant mothers can take advantage of this benefit to get personal recommendations on healthy choices while pregnant or breast feeding. Parents can also get advice on quick, easy and healthy snacks or meals for their families.
• Through Teladoc, eligible associates and their spouse/partner can speak to a licensed provider by web, phone or video chat — anytime day or night and from anywhere – for themselves or their dependent children. Offered through our national medical plans,Teladoc is a convenient and cost-effective way to speak with a physician from the comfort of their homes.
• Our Wellness program offers associates who are enrolled through our national medical plans the opportunity to find their own path to well-being. And, associates and their spouse/partner can each earn up to $300 deposited into a tax-advantaged account, which can be used toward eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses.
• This year, VF increased its investment into our dental benefits, so the majority of our associates and their families are paying as much as 25 percent less in 2019 for the same dental coverage – depending on the plan they chose and the dependents they covered.

Again, all of these benefits are for our U.S.-based associates, but it’s important to note that we have – or soon will have – many of these benefits in place in all regions where we operate globally.

This is an exciting time to be part of VF. We have tremendous opportunities available, and, while we’re growing our VF family, we’re also taking care of our associates who are growing theirs.