KATHY D’ARCY
Reflects core mission
As the nation prepares for a possible war with Iraq, businesses prepare for the possibility of losing employees to deployment.
By providing the difference in pay gaps to U.S. soldiers, American employers are giving members of the military a sense of security and safety back home.
Citizens Financial Group recently announced its enhanced company military leave policy to offer additional support to any employee-reservist activated during Operation Enduring Freedom.
The new policy provides financial support for employees who are called to duty by paying the difference between employees’ Citizens pay and the military pay for the duration of the active duty and offering the continuance of medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage.
Realizing that the bank is not only made up of servicemen and servicewomen, but families of military personnel as well, Citizens also will offer support to any employee whose spouse, domestic partner or child is called to duty by granting a paid leave of absence for five consecutive days to coincide with a loved one before being deployed overseas.
If travel is necessary, Citizens also will pay a portion of employees’ travel expenses.
Kathy D’Arcy, group executive vice president and director of human resources for Citizens Financial Group, said the policy is not only an enhancement to the federal military leave policy – the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act – but also a statement about Citizens’ core mission regarding its employees.
“We care about our employees and we have lots of policies that affect many groups of people … This is not a one-size-fit-all corporation; we try to address everyone’s needs – and in this time, [the military] is one of the groups we are addressing,” said D’Arcy. “We realized a lot of employees were getting called up for military leave … and a lot of people have a family member that will be called up … and they should leave knowing things are safe and secure back here.”
‘Something Special’
The new military leave policy has only been official for a week, but D’Arcy said it is garnering an enormous amount of support from the bank’s employees.
“A young man was called up [last] week and he left [last Wednesday] morning. He is in the Military Police company and is leaving behind a 2-year-old daughter and pregnant wife,” said D’Arcy. “This package overwhelmed him. This is the time that we need to do something special for our employees, and something special for our country.”
In a press statement provided by Citizens Bank last week, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lawrence K. Fish said, “These are difficult and uncertain times in our nation. The current situation in the Persian Gulf has made real the possibility that Citizens’ colleagues or family members may be called to serve their country. We are concerned about our employees and providing benefits that match their needs. We hope it won’t be necessary for employees to use these benefits, but we are offering the support in the event it is needed.”
As more troops are being called to serve overseas during Operation Enduring Freedom, businesses around the nation are preparing for a decrease in staff and a smaller working environment.
Smaller companies will no doubt feel an greater impact on their work productivity with employees having to leave for service, but larger companies like Citizens Financial, a $56.5 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I., say the business contingency plan is the same.
“I don’t think we’ll have more than a couple of dozen go, but we still needed to do something for the family and we’ve always taken pride in our support of our employees,” said D’Arcy. “This is no different – this is military leave. Just like sick leave and maternity leave, and you just have cope with it.”
D’Arcy said the extension to the current military leave policy at Citizens was first thought up after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and the series of events that ensued after those tragedies.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen then but we did put the pay deferential portion in place,” said D’Arcy. “I wouldn’t say this is going to be in place forever, but as long as there are actions like Operation Enduring Freedom, there will be policies like this in place at Citizens.”
Banker & Tradesman learned that Citizens Bank is one of the first banks in New England to add a personal touch to the Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act, but others in and around the area are planning to participate in the cause.
“It’s the right thing to do, and from our perspective, we are aggressively and expeditiously perusing a solution to the issue of pay gaps for employees being called up to active duty,” said Richard Ehst, director of corporate communications for Sovereign Bank and a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps. “In today’s world, the reserve personnel make up a large part of the American defense. If they are called up, it’s important to make sure that their families don’t fall into hardship. I think that is a duty of the American employer, and we want to make sure we are doing the right thing to help our employees and our country.”
