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In an email to all its US employees yesterday, Google addressed the Supreme Court’s controversial Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Said decision effectively overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent to uphold the right to legal abortion at the federal level. Now that the choice on whether to restrict or preserve abortion rights will be up to the individual States, Google’s Chief People Officer, Fiona Cicconi, communicated to employees what Google intends to do about it.
The aforementioned email, which was obtained by The Verge, states that Google will support employees who decide to apply for relocation without asking for justification and that those that are in charge of overseeing that policy “will be aware of the situation” when it comes to reviewing said requests. Furthermore, Google reiterates that its “US benefits plan and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works.” You can read the full email that was sent to Googlers below:
Hi everyone,
This morning the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that rolls back Roe v. Wade.
This is a profound change for the country that deeply affects so many of us, especially women. Everyone will respond in their own way, whether that’s wanting space and time to process, speaking up, volunteering outside of work, not wanting to discuss it at all, or something else entirely. Please be mindful of what your co-workers may be feeling and, as always, treat each other with respect.
Equity is extraordinarily important to us as a company, and we share concerns about the impact this ruling will have on people’s health, lives, and careers. We will keep working to make information on reproductive healthcare accessible across our products and continue our work to protect user privacy.
To support Googlers and their dependents, our US benefits plan and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works. Googlers can also apply for relocation without justification, and those overseeing this process will be aware of the situation. If you need additional support, please connect 1:1 with a People Consultant via [link to internal tool redacted].
We will be arranging support sessions for Googlers in the US in the coming days. These will be posted to Googler News.
Please don’t hesitate to lean on your Google community in the days ahead and continue to take good care of yourselves and each other.
Source: The Verge
Featured Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash
