The New York Times just started offering parent employees a stipend as high as $600 a week for childcare and in-person tutoring

• The New York Times expanded its benefits in a September 1 memo viewed by Business Insider to further support employees who are parents.
• The benefits come in the form of $100 a week for the cost of in-person tutoring for dependents in elementary school, as well as increased access to an employer-sponsored childcare provider.
• Times employees already had access to $500 a week for childcare, which remains in place.
• This extra $600 comes as the school season reopens, whether in person or remotely or a hybrid of both, and as many companies institute similar benefits to support the mental health and work-life balance of employees.

As the school year starts during the coronavirus pandemic, working parents are scrambling to juggle their own remote work and their children's schooling plans on top of general family care.

More and more companies are looking to support employees by stepping up their benefit offerings as the pandemic continues to upend American life. The latest company to do so? The New York Times.

The premier American newspaper announced new parental benefits in a September 1 memo sent to employees and viewed by Business Insider. The New York Times Company confirmed the authenticity of the memo.Advertisement

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The company is now reimbursing eligible employees up to $100 a week for the "cost of in-person tutoring for dependents in kindergarten through fifth grade," in addition to boosting access to Bright Horizons, a backup family-care provider.

"The Times is committed to helping our employees support themselves and their families during this challenging time," a representative for The Times told Business Insider in an email.

Per the memo, The Times previously announced it would reimburse parents up to $500 a week for childcare for dependents under the age of 13 — meaning some employees could receive up to $600 a week of financial assistance for family care.

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As the pandemic continues to wear on, other companies have introduced benefits and perks to employees to ease anxieties amid such an uncertain time.

PricewaterhouseCoopers previously announced parental benefits similarly to those at The Times, by adding crisis childcare-reimbursement stipends to its benefits in addition to adding flexibility to its standard protocol for taking time off. Parents aren't the only employees benefiting from beefed-up benefit programs. PwC is also offering mental-health benefits to all employees such as access to well-being coaches and free therapy sessions, while other companies like Salesforce are offering free access to meditation apps, emotional-health webinars, and video-counseling sessions.Advertisement

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