Apple's HR head announces new perks for employees

Apple employees have received some good news this week.

A range of new perks have been made available to staff, including extended parental leave, education reimbursements, and donations from Apple matching for hours of non-profit work.

Denise Young-Smith, Apple's head of HR, revealed the perks in a memo to employees, released by Fortune, in a move to showcase the company's employee offerings to potential talent in the job market.

"We know how hard all of you are working: from the teams designing, producing, launching, and supporting our incredible products to the thousands of retail employees sharing the excitement and experience face to face with our customers every day," wrote Young-Smith.

"You are the reason we are able to change the world, again and again. Because we want to make sure you get the support you need, we’re excited to introduce significant changes to our global well-being programs for both part-time and full-time employees."

These changes include educational assistance for all full-time employees and part-time retail employees, which will cover courses related to any job at Apple — including English language courses.

US learners can also make use of a student loan refinancing program, to help "ease the burden of past loans and cover future expenses for your college-aged children."

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Soon-to-be parents will also benefit, with new mums being able to take fully paid leave for up to four weeks before their due date, and up to 12 to 14 weeks after the baby is born. Other new parents will receive full pay for up to six weeks.

Apple also announced a stronger commitment to social responsibility. The Matching Gifts Program will be extended to all employees worldwide, with the company donating money to causes where employees volunteer their time.

To date, the company has matched over USD 25 million of employees’ charitable contributions.

"For the first time we’ve probably got four generations in the workplace at the same time, and we need a plethora of programs,” Young-Smith remarked.

Image: Apple website