Case Study

How Best Buy Improved Employee Wellness with Care Benefits

About Best Buy 

Best Buy is the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer, with more than 1,000 stores and about 100,000 employees in the United States and Canada—all working towards the company’s mission to enrich lives through technology. 

Best Buy is committed to taking care of its employees, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it supports their guiding behaviors: Be human. Make it real. Think about tomorrow.

Why They Care

Because Best Buy employees are at a variety of locations, life stages, and settings—including the corporate office, retail stores, the Geek Squad, and the supply chain—their benefits program needed to be inclusive and accessible. It also needs to address a wide range of needs, from healthcare to mental health counseling to financial tools to family care support.

“The trick is to find a full array of benefits for employees so that employees can choose those benefits that best fit their needs,” said Charles Montreuil, Senior VP, HR Rewards, Best Buy.

As part of their social well-being pillar, Best Buy has implemented workplace wellness benefits that offer employees support and flexibility to focus on the things and people that matter most. This includes offering paid leaves of absence for family care, personalized caregiver support services, caregiver pay for child bonding or family care, adoption and surrogacy assistance, and Backup Care through Care for Business. 

How They Care

Best Buy launched their Backup Care program with Care for Business in 2018, giving employees access to in-home and in-center child care for those times when their regular, ongoing care is unavailable. Providing access to Backup Care means fewer missed work days, increased employee productivity, and happier customers.

“The balance of work and life is really a top priority for Best Buy, and we feel like no one should ever have to choose between work and making sure they have quality care for their child,” said Michelle Olson, Sr. HR Manager and Work-Life pillar lead, Best Buy. “So, for us it was a very easy decision to provide backup child care for our employees to support their work life and their well-being.”

The Impact of Care

In addition to the reassurance that they won’t have to worry if care falls through for their child, Backup Care is also helping Best Buy maintain a high degree of productivity. Employees have avoided more than 1,400 days of missed work in the first half of 2022 alone thanks to their Backup Care benefit. 

We know that our Care benefit has helped our employees be more productive, be more engaged, and definitely increased our retention,” said Melanie Moriarty, Senior Director, HR Rewards, Best Buy. “Since we launched the program, employees have used more than 7,000 days of Backup Care. That’s a lot of days employees were able to show up for work and serve our customers when they might not have otherwise been able to.”

“What I’m most proud of with this benefit in particular is the fact that I know that employees can give freely of themselves to help our customers knowing that their child is being well taken care of,” said Montreuil. “They don’t have to have that guilt that comes with leaving a child at home while they’re coming to work. And that is immeasurable.”