Procter & Gamble India launches ‘Lead With Care’ Program, enables employees to avail holistic caregiving support for children with disabilities and special needs

First-of-its-kind holistic support policy to include extended annual medical coverage, specialized day-care support and 24X7 employee assistance program (EAP)

Mumbai, Feb 24, 2023 (GNI): Procter & Gamble India today announced the ‘Lead With Care’ Program that offers a holistic support to employees who are caregivers to children with disabilities and special needs. Effective April 1, 2023, this program will enable employees to avail early preventive care and treatment for children impacted by specific neurodevelopmental, cognitive, behavioral, or physical impairments. The Program includes medical coverage across diagnosis, doctor consultations, treatment, cost of medicines and devices, and builds on top of the existing medical support the company extends to all its employees and their families, including employees of the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, the Company will facilitate specialized and trained day-care support via certified partners and shall provide an employee assistance program (EAP) available 24×7 to all employees and their families to navigate this journey.

With this, P&G India is pioneering a holistic support to employees who are caregivers to children with disabilities and special needs, not just for the industry in India, but also for P&G globally, serving as a learning ground for other markets.

Srinivas P.M. – Head, Human Resources, P&G India Subcontinent said, “At P&G, CARE is the cornerstone of our people policy – CARE for our people and their families. We have undertaken deliberate efforts to prioritize their health and well-being, which is yielding visible results. Several studies indicate that early diagnosis and treatment of disabilities can positively impact the long term. With ‘Lead With Care’ our endeavour is to help our people avail early-stage medical and care interventions for their children, which can significantly impact their growth and overall quality of life. We also understand that this can be a challenging phase for our people, and therefore are extending our Employee Assistance Program to get the necessary help in their journey.

This is in line with our philosophy that prevention is better than cure. We believe that only when our people and their families are truly happy and healthy at their core, is when they will be able to bring their full selves to work. With this, and several other initiatives, we continue to Lead With Care.”

Details of ‘Lead With Care’: UNICEF estimates that 1 in 10 of all children worldwide have disabilities. Early intervention becomes a critical first step as several studies indicate that early detection and early intervention can avoid the precipitation of several of the disabilities and can reduce the impact the disability may have on the child and the family. With this approach, the ‘Lead With Care’ program includes:

–          Medical Coverage: For over 10 types of treatments including diagnosis, consultations, treatment, cost of specialized devices and medicines for eligible dependent children up to 18 years of age. This enables employees to avail early-stage medical interventions and diagnosis which can significantly impact the quality of life and the overall development of their children. These focused interventions range from medical devices to cognitive therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy including neuro rehabilitation, prostheses/orthoses among others.

–          Day Care Support: Enabling employees to avail specialized day care facilities for their children by facilitating specialized and trained day-care services via certified partners. This aims to help working parents ensure quality care and specialized teaching environment is always available to their children, so that the intervention and recovery continues unhindered.

–          24×7 Employee Assistance Helpline (EAP): The EAP facility is available to all employees, round the clock, where they can seek specialized counselling, assistance, and guidance through difficult moments along the journey

Caring for its employees and their families has truly been the cornerstone of the culture at P&G India, with the topmost priority being their health and well-being. Recognizing that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work across a diverse workforce, the Company has evolved its medical benefits program periodically, basis real employee experiences and needs, which resulted in the curation of a more holistic program which includes the ‘Lead With Care’ Program, stated in the press release.ends GNI SG