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<\/div>\nMany employers are prepared to revisit employee benefits and leave policies in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade<\/em> decision<\/a> that legalized abortions across the U.S., a new survey of HR professionals by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court’ s June 24 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization <\/em>lets individual states allow or restrict abortion access, with a wide variety of state abortion laws expected to emerge.<\/p>\n The SHRM Research Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,003 HR professionals from May 24, 2022, to June 7, 2022, shortly before the Supreme Court’s widely anticipated ruling and after a draft of the decision had been leaked to the press in early May. Here are some key findings from the survey.<\/p>\n Formal Position Statements<\/p>\n Most organizations (97 percent) did not issue a statement regarding the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade<\/em>. <\/p>\n Respondents indicated that employees (94 percent), clients\/customers (96 percent) and stakeholders (96 percent) did not have a reaction to their organization not issuing a statement on the draft opinion leak.<\/p>\n “Many employers were reticent to take a formal position on the draft leak,” said Casey Sword, a researcher at SHRM. “However, that could change based on the court’s opinion as employees, customers and stakeholders increasingly expect their organizations to take a stance on social issues.”<\/p>\n Benefits and Resources<\/p>\n When asked to name the top five resources or benefits they currently provide to employees to better support reproductive care, which includes abortion access, respondents answered: <\/p>\n When asked to name the top six resources or benefits that employers do not currently offer, but are thinking of offering to better support abortion access\/reproductive care, respondents answered: <\/p>\n Business Tax Deductibility<\/p>\n Over a third of organizations (35 percent) would not<\/em> be more likely to provide travel expense benefits (gasoline, airfare, hotel fees) outside of an HSA for employees to access abortion and reproductive services, even if those payments were tax-deductible as a business expense related to health coverage; 6 percent would be more likely to provide travel expense benefits if deductible from business taxes and 59 percent are unsure.<\/p>\n HSA Contributions<\/p>\n Knowing that employees can use HSA funds for travel-related expenses to receive reproductive care in another state, organizations that currently make employer contributions to employees’ HSAs responded as follows:<\/p>\n When asked of all respondents who don’t currently offer an HSA to employees:<\/p>\n Attracting and Retaining Talent<\/p>\n Nearly a quarter of organizations (24 percent) agree that offering an HSA for employees’ travel-related expenses to receive abortion services\/reproductive health care in another state will enhance their ability to compete for talent, while 18 percent disagree and 58 percent neither agree nor disagree. <\/p>\n Among HR respondents at companies that said providing travel-related expenses would enhance their ability to compete for talent:<\/p>\n Changes to DE&I Programs<\/p>\n Top anticipated changes to organizations’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts if Roe v. Wade<\/em> is overturned include: <\/p>\n Be Aware of Legal Risks with Post-Roe Abortion Benefits<\/a>, SHRM Online<\/em>, May 2022<\/p>\n\n
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