Delta’s holistic wellness strategy is grounded in the belief that if we take care of our employees, they will, in turn, take care of our customers and communities. We call this the virtuous circle. The Delta Wellness program aspires to build a resilient workforce of the future by investing in the physical, emotional, social and financial wellness of our people.
By enabling our people to thrive, we are connecting the world and changing it for the better. Listening to our people, meeting them where they are and responding with meaningful action isn’t just a responsibility – it’s core to our DNA.”
Delta Wellness Mission
WE ARE WITH YOU ON THE JOURNEY OF YOUR LIFETIME.
Delta Wellness Areas of Focus
Helping Our People Flourish
In 2023, we conducted our second Flourishing Index survey to measure employee holistic well-being and recalibrate our benefits to best meet the needs of our people. The 12-question survey, developed by researchers at Harvard University, provides quantitative assessment of total wellness supplemented with qualitative interviews with employees. Insights from the 2022 Flourishing Index survey influenced the launch of a new nutrition program offering affordable and healthy meals, as well as the implementation of Quantum Health, Progyny, Maven and our new Employee Assistance Program provider, Spring Health.
We have a People Wellness Council which includes Delta Leadership Committee executives, frontline leaders and team members to oversee and guide our investments in holistic wellness and benefits.
FLOURISHING INDEX SURVEY
36 %
employee participation in 2023
(up from 29% in 2022)
Family-Building Benefits
We continue to listen to our people and have invested heavily in family-planning benefits, including fertility coverage, surrogacy and adoption reimbursement (up to $30 000). Domestic employees and their spouses receive support from Maven, a virtual clinic for women’s and family health that offers continuous, holistic care for fertility and family building, including lactation support and breastmilk shipping. Those who enroll in Delta’s health plans also have access to Progyny, a fertility benefits provider that offers 900 fertility specialists at 650 locations, a 24/7 integrated pharmacy and lower-cost treatments including artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and medications for fertility treatments. Since launching the program in 2023, 88 babies have been born via IVF to Delta Health Plan members.
In 2023, we expanded our maternity and parental leave program to give employees more time to focus on their growing families. All U.S.-based birthing parents now receive 10 weeks of 100% employer-paid maternity leave and two weeks of fully paid parental leave (12 paid weeks total), regardless of delivery type. We also provide two weeks of 100% paid parental leave for non-birthing, adoptive and surrogate parents. Additionally, all new parents can take up to a year-long unpaid leave of absence to bond with newborn or newly adopted children.
We increased our highly subsidized emergency backup care program from 15 to 25 days to give employees peace of mind if a provider is unavailable during work hours. Our team is connected to vetted, qualified caregivers for U.S. employees’ children, adult family members and pets.
Emotional Wellness
Our EAP, through a partnership with Spring Health, includes 12 free mental health counseling sessions and six personal coaching sessions per year. The digital-driven program makes it easier for employees to find a therapist based on their individual needs and to access continuity-based care. Spring Health therapists – all of whom are in-network with Delta health plans – are available for on-site or virtual sessions and guarantee appointments in an average of two days. In the first 90 days with Spring Health, Delta people completed over 20 000 appointments for their mental health.
In addition to our work with employees, Delta extends its support of mental wellness to our communities by partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, to help raise awareness and provide support and education to those in need.
Financial Wellness
To help employees prepare for life’s unexpected moments and jumpstart their financial wellness journey, Delta introduced the Emergency Savings Program in January 2023. Available to all U.S.-based employees, it incentivizes employees to begin building greater financial security with a contribution of up to $1 000 toward their emergency savings. Employees earn a one-time contribution of $750 upon completing an online educational track and their first one-on-one coaching session, and an additional $250 contribution from Delta upon reaching $250 in savings from their payroll deductions. The program was developed in response to employee feedback from a number of sources, including the 2022 Delta Flourishing Index, which revealed that financial wellness was top-of-mind for employees. Our Emergency Savings Program is one of the newest ways we are investing in our business by living up to our responsibility to care for our people.
Employees who felt in control of their overall financial situation increased by 77% among participants that completed the program, and employees who felt in control of their ability to save for goals other than emergency savings increased by an incredible 140%.
A financial wellness program was also extended to international employees in 2023. Eligible international employees can earn a financial reward by completing a Financial Health Checkup and engaging with personalized financial wellness content.
BUILDING A WELLNESS COMMUNITY
We recently launched a dedicated financial wellness community on our SkyHub internal social network to encourage knowledge-building and promote consistency and accountability. Employees can share tips and success stories, get answers to frequently asked questions about the Emergency Savings Program and participate in discussion-based campaigns, including Best Advice Ever and I Am Saving For, for the chance to win prizes.
PATH TO RETIREMENT
Delta supports all employees’ respective journeys to retirement through a range of programs that meet them where they are. Our primary 401(k) plan provides an automatic company contribution equal to 3% of an employee’s eligible earnings and 100% match of up to 6% of eligible earnings contributed by the employee. We also offer a monthly webinar series focused on financial wellness topics for specific employee groups – from 401(k) basics for early-career hires to Social Security and Medicare eligibility for near-retirees. Ready Set Retire, a popular in-person and virtual education program, will return in 2024.