Work/Life Programs

Environmental Defense offers a variety of programs and services to help employees achieve a balance between their work and home lives. We understand, regardless of lifestyle, whether single or married with children or without, we all need to find time to fulfill our professional and personal responsibilities.

Employee Assistance Program

This service provides employees and their families with confidential counseling and referral services by licensed social workers who assist with a wide range of behavioral health related issues.

Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program

This voluntary program gives employees the opportunity to support their colleagues who are facing a major health crisis which incapacitates the employee or employee's family member and results in a loss of income due to the employee having exhausted all paid leave. The program allows employees to donate time from their personal annual leave account.

Transit Program

Employees in New York, DC, Boston and Oakland are eligible for transit benefits allowing employees to set aside a portion of their gross income, before taxes, to pay public transportation or vanpooling expenses.

Tuition Reimbursement Plan

Environmental Defense's commitment to professional development includes a tuition program that reimburses employees up to $1,000 annually for the cost of eligible, work-related tuition charges for part-time study.

Professional Development Program

All eligible staff are encouraged to seek out educational opportunities that will foster job-related growth and contribute to the unity, synergy, and enhanced communications of Environmental Defense as a whole. Selections of professional development courses do not need to be related to your current position at Environmental Defense; however, they must be professional skill building in nature.

Adoption Benefit

Regular full time staff that have been employed with Environmental Defense for at least one year will be provided financial assistance in connection with the adoption of a minor child under the age of 18. The benefit provides 80% reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred in connection with an adoption, not to exceed $3,000 per adoption. Eligible expenses include court costs, agency fees, legal fees and adoption fees, and medical expense for the pre-adoptive child. Ineligible expenses include transportation expenses, payments to a birth mother or contested legal cost.

Fitness Benefit

This is a one-year pilot program to reimburse regular full time staff outside of the New York and Washington DC offices (both locations have gym facilities on premises) up to $50.00 per month towards the cost of fitness related programs. The benefit provides reimbursement for such cost as monthly athletic club fees or other specific health and exercise classes including for example aerobic or yoga classes. The Fitness Benefit payment will be made as a reimbursement to staff who demonstrate their actual participation in fitness program for the month.

Posted: 06-Apr-2006; Updated: 25-Jun-2007