Dive Brief:
- Vail Resorts expanded its mental health benefits to provide employees and their dependents and roommates with 12 free therapy sessions each per year, up from six, according to a recent company news release. The coverage applies to all year-round workers and to seasonal employees who work winter and summer. Employees who work one season per year have access to six free therapy sessions, the company said.
- The benefit is available to all employees, even if they are not enrolled in the company’s healthcare plan, Vail Resorts said. Since the company introduced its mental health program two years ago, it has seen a 12% utilization rate of clinical resources overall, up from 10% in 2022.
- “Vail Resorts is committed to ensuring that our team members have the resources and support they need to be healthy and safe while continuing to create an inclusive and equitable work environment for everyone,” Corey Levy, wellness director at Vail Resorts, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
The push to offer expanded mental health and wellness benefits comes as companies battle worker disengagement and burnout.
In HR Dive’s 2024 Identity of HR survey, HR leaders identified mental health benefits as a top nontraditional benefits strategy, following only remote and hybrid work arrangements.
And more than half of employers said they plan to expand their well-being strategy in the next three to five years, according to survey results released in May by Business Group on Health and Fidelity Investments.
Employees also expect an investment in their well-being by employers, according to The Conference Board’s Next Frontier of Well-Being report. A large majority of both U.S. and European employees said that their employers are at least partially responsible for their well-being, per the report.