MONROE, La., March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the
COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread across the United States — affecting the livelihoods
of millions of workers — CenturyLink is taking an
immediate, aggressive, and industry-leading approach to ensure the
safety, financial health, and well-being of its employees.
As a result of the pandemic, CenturyLink is providing
immediate relief and protection for its employees. These
benefits and protections include:
- Well positioned for work from home
(WFH): Currently, approximately 75% of CenturyLink's
global employee population, outside of some of our critical field
and customer-facing positions, are working from home.
- Voluntarily providing 80 hours of emergency paid time off
(PTO): For the next 60 days, CenturyLink will provide up
to 80 hours of emergency, excused, paid time off (PTO) to all U.S.
employees. This is in addition to our current allotments of paid
time off, sick leave, or other company-provided paid and unpaid
leave. This voluntary move goes beyond the recently enacted
"Families First Coronavirus Response Act," since it does not
require larger companies like CenturyLink to comply.
- CenturyLink is also voluntarily providing 75 hours of
emergency PTO to employees in Canada.
- Extending short-term disability benefits to new
employees: Effective immediately, we are waiving the one-year
waiting requirement for all current U.S.-based employees. Now, all
U.S. employees are provided with short-term disability coverage.
CenturyLink offers employees up to six months of short-term
disability. Following six months, employees qualify for long-term
disability.
- Protections for frontline employees: We've provided
technicians disinfectant supplies and have changed the way we work
and meet to "create distance." Our technicians know they have
flexibility to stay home if they are not feeling well.
"These are certainly demanding times. The COVID-19 crisis
is challenging many aspects of our society. At CenturyLink, we are
challenging ourselves to implement solutions for our employees and
customers to keep them safe and ease their anxiety and concerns
where we can," said CenturyLink CEO Jeff Storey. "We've taken aggressive steps
to expand our employee benefit programs and are working closely
with businesses and governments around the world to ensure they
have the network capacity, connectivity, and security to meet their
urgent and, often, unique challenges. I am incredibly proud of the
CenturyLink team. Their unwavering commitment to deliver for our
customers is second to none."
For more information about CenturyLink's well-being focused
approach to COVID-19, as well as our commitment to our customers,
communities, and employees, visit:
http://news.centurylink.com/covid-19.
About CenturyLink
CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is
technology leader delivering hybrid networking, cloud connectivity,
and security solutions to customers around the world. Through its
extensive, global fiber network, CenturyLink provides secure and
reliable services to meet the growing digital demands of businesses
and consumers. CenturyLink strives to be the trusted connection to
the networked world and is focused on delivering technology that
enhances the customer experience. Learn more at
news.centurylink.com.
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SOURCE CenturyLink Inc.