Aldebol asks about work-life balance and employee wellness programs

So in the survey, again, the most recent results of the survey,

it revealed that a large number of city employees, 35%, found work-life balance to be skewed and reported feeling emotionally drained.

Are there any initiatives that DCAS can implement or has implemented or can recommend to agencies to implement to improve work-life balance?

So I think work-life balance can show up in different ways across different titles.

One of the things that, and Ola may be able to speak to this, is the Work Well program that provides a lot of different trainings and activities that individual and agencies can participate in, in terms of how to really engage their employees.

I know internally within our agencies, our agency provide a lot of opportunities for us to kind of decompress.

We have a meditation room.

So agencies do a lot of different things based on the needs of their workforce.

And then there are citywide programs that OLR can speak about in terms of work well.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you for that question, Gerald.

So, yeah, I would highlight WorkWell NYC.

So far this year, WorkWell has reached over 60,000 participants for its programming.

So, you know, we launched that program 10 years ago for this reason.

We know that addressing employee wellness, you know, there's more than just wages and traditional benefits.

Addressing wellness through fitness classes, through counseling, through things like that is so important.

I'd also highlight the employee assistance program, which has been around longer, but is a vital resource for employees and agencies when employees are facing challenges.

It's available for employees.

It's available for their families.

And there's a lot of value there in both.

Dealing with short-term issues, so someone who's experiencing mental health issues or

burnout or something can have a very kind of immediate appointment with a licensed clinical social worker.

But we also work hard to connect people with providers that take our insurance.

So one of the most valuable parts of EAP is they have relationships with our insurance providers, with our

with a lot of healthcare providers out there.

And I know it's often hard for people to find appointments for mental health that take insurance.

And EAP is a great resource there for employees to go.

They'll get set up with someone who is accepting new patients, who is taking our insurance, and that can help with some of the mental health challenges employees face.