World Health Day 2023

World Health Day is a global health awareness day - a day to shed light on various public health topics. This year, the theme focuses on wellbeing and the importance of health for all. Here at TextNow, we couldn’t agree more. We believe in people over product over profit — and we continue to make investments in wellness programs so our employees can bring their whole self to work. Here’s how we do that:

Mental Health & Wellness Days:

TextNow believes that your mental health is important. So, in addition to having unlimited PTO, we introduced Mental Health & Wellbeing Days. Employees can take a day off once a month, whether it's planned or unplanned, and focus on themselves. Some people may feel guilty or hesitant to use a mental health day, so we encourage everyone to use it via modelling by example: Each manager and team lead is required to take one Mental Health Day per month, which we think helps reduce the stigma around mental health.

Employee Resource Group: Mental Health @TextNow:

Our Mental Health Resource Group aims to ensure TextNow is a mentally healthy & safe workplace. Towards that end, the Mental Health ERG drives monthly programs, supported by webinars, blog posts, education and resources, and a calendar of events. Topics for the Mental Health ERG tend to revolve around wellness of all types – physical, emotional, mental, etc.  

Employee Family Assistance Program:

Employees and their family members may use EAPs to help manage issues in their personal lives. EAP counselors provide assessment, support, and referrals to additional resources like counselors. The issues for which EAPs provide support include:

• Substance abuse
• Occupational stress
• Emotional distress
• Major life events, including births, accidents and deaths
• Health care concerns
• Financial or non-work-related legal concerns
• Family/personal relationship issues
• Co-worker relationship issues
• Concerns about aging parents

Wellness/Lifestyle Spending Account:

We have allocated each employee a benefit of $750 towards their Wellness/Lifestyle account. We know that people define wellness differently, so we’re quite flexible with how employees choose to spend their funds. Our employees have used their Wellness/Lifestyle account to help purchase items including:

• Apple watch/Fitbit
• Music Lessons  
• Exercise equipment  
• Certified Personal Trainer  
• Fitness Clothing
• Mountain bikes
• Fitness membership  
• Sports equipment
• Office equipment
• Nutrition counselling

Personal Learning & Development Budget:

We also allocated employees $800 each for Learning & Development endeavors. We want people to take ownership of their career path and enhance their skillsets through different learning modalities. It’s interesting because we live in a time where learning has evolved and there isn’t a one-sized-fits-all approach in doing so anymore. The list below showcases some of the courses and items that have been purchased:

1. LinkedIn Learning/Coursera

2. Books

3. Conferences

4. Certifications

5. Toast Masters (public speaking training)

6. Software development  

7. Office equipment  

8. Team building exercises

9. Membership through professional organizations

10. Continued education

If you think this sounds like a place that values its employees' health in a holistic way, well, you’d be correct! Why not take a look at our Careers site and join us!

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