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XPO offers free family health app for pregnant employees

Company refutes discrimination charges, promotes two women to board.

Transportation and logistics provider XPO Logistics Inc. has teamed with healthcare network Maven Clinic Co. to offer a free, smartphone-based health advice pOréal for pregnant XPO employees.

Under the program, New York-based Maven will connect the XPO workforce with a virtual network of healthcare practitioners, providing new parents and expectant mothers with additional support services that complement their regular medical care. The announcement follows the company's introduction of a new, comprehensive pregnancy care accommodation and family leave policy earlier this year, Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO said.


Also this week, XPO announced two changes to its board of directors, adding business leader Marlene Colucci as an independent director and promoting pharmaceutical executive AnnaMaria DeSalva, who is currently an independent director and chairman of the nominating and governance committee, to the newly created position of vice chairman of the board.

The company's board now includes eight directors, seven of whom are independent, including three women, according to XPO. "Our board composition underscores the importance we place on diversity, the workplace environment, and corporate social responsibility as central to our long-term success," Bradley Jacobs, chairman and CEO of XPO Logistics, said in a release.

The moves come as the company continues to refute an October report that managers at an XPO DC in Memphis, Tenn., discriminated against pregnant employees.

XPO's new mobile app for family health supports on-demand access to a network of more than 1,400 health practitioners across 20 specialties, including fertility, lactation, infant sleep, nutrition, mental health and more. Participants can consult with practitioners over the phone, through video chats, or via private messaging.

Employees enrolled in an XPO medical plan can access these services at any time during a pregnancy and up to six months postpartum at no cost. These services extend to expectant parents during the surrogacy or adoption process and to women who experience a loss of pregnancy. Additionally, employees interested in fertility treatments or egg freezing can receive discounts on services and up to six months of support from specialists for certain services.

"This virtual clinic gives our employees 24/7, on-demand access to an array of the services that women and their families seek most during and after pregnancy," Josephine Berisha, senior vice president, compensation and benefits of XPO Logistics, said in a release. "These services complement our existing suite of U.S. medical plans and are free to all employees. Expert digital healthcare is an important additional convenience for new parents, especially working mothers who are balancing the demands of home and work."

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