Healthy and Inclusive Workplace (2024)

“In a world where we face unprecedented challenges, one thing could not be more certain. Our people are our greatest asset. Therefore, it goes without saying that their health and safety is at the very top of our list of priorities. While our pharmacists and other team members in stores, laboratories, across our supply chain and in our support offices serve patients’ and consumers’ needs globally around the clock, we are totally committed to providing them with a healthy and safe workplace."

Sal Venegas

‌SVP, Global Talent Management, Compensation and Team Member Experience

WBA prioritizes benefit offerings that allow team members to succeed both at work and at home. In many cases, that means making space for family. Both Walgreens and Boots offer competitive parental leave benefits regardless of gender and inclusive of adoption and surrogacy.

In fiscal 2023, Walgreens made updates to their family forming benefits. For fertility treatments, coverage was doubled from $25,000 to $50,000, and the requirement of a ‘medically necessary’ diagnosis was removed. A new offering this year includes surrogacy and adoption support. Employees can receive $10,000 to cover costs of surrogacy or adoption.

Following a successful launch of the WBA Parenting/Caregiver business resource group (BRG) in 2022, the group grew in fiscal 2023 to provide communication and support for parents and caretakers across the network.

At WBA, we know that living a full, productive life depends on more than our physical health – caring for our mental health is essential. We strive to foster a workplace where every team member is supported and celebrated for being their authentic self, is treated with dignity and respect and has access to tools, resources and support for their well-being. We are focused on building a culture defined by empathy, compassion and authenticity.

Walgreens, Boots UK and Boots Ireland continued to put emphasis on building specialized expertise around mental health through expansion of Mental Health First Aid training. The Walgreens program, in partnership with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and American Pharmacists Association (APhA), is a four-hour continuing education accredited course, which approximately 1,675 Walgreens pharmacy team members have completed to date. Boots UK’s Mental Health First Aid training program continued in fiscal 2023 following its expansion to critical roles last year, which included pharmacy support and supply chain management. In fiscal 2023, the program was also rolled out fully in Boots Ireland with 60 trained Mental Health First Aiders.

To encourage engagement with team member resources and continue reducing stigma around mental health, both Walgreens and Boots deployed awareness and prevention campaigns throughout the year. In 2023, Walgreens expanded access to JourneyLive, an organization that provides resources and tools to support individuals on their mental health journeys. In May 2023, Walgreens hosted a program for Mental Health Month in partnership with Journey Live. As a part of the campaign, Walgreens facilitated an online meditation event that broke the Guinness World Record for the “most views for an online guided meditation video in 24 hours on a bespoke platform.”

Walgreens continues to work with community organizations and vocational, state and local agencies to support two signature programs helping increase career opportunities for people with disabilities: Retail Employees with Disabilities Initiative (REDI) and the Transitional Work Group (TWG). Through REDI, Walgreens provides people with disabilities a three- to six-week in-store training program. As part of the training, participants learn valuable retail and customer service skills, qualifying hundreds of potential employees for roles at our stores. In fiscal 2023, Walgreens rolled out this program to more stores, bringing the number to 682, which has led to 2,400 total participants since the project’s inception. As part of the TWG program, Walgreens also provides a 13-week training program by matching participants with job coaches using a combination of classroom work and on-the-job training to prepare participants to become temporary hires. Following the training program some participants are eligible to become permanent team members at up to 13 Walgreens distribution centers or regional warehouses across the U.S.

In fiscal 2023, Walgreens partnered with Neurodiversity in the Workplace (NITW), an organization which designs plans and programs for companies to recruit, attract, hire and retain neurodiverse talent. In fiscal 2023, Walgreens hired its first cohort of program participants and is eager to see this program continue to feed into the talent pipeline.