Companies turn to employee resource groups to manage internal discourse around the abortion ruling

By Tony Case • June 30, 2022 •

Ivy Liu

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights led many companies to come out in support of employees seeking access to reproductive health services, with employers ranging from Disney to Dick’s Sporting Goods vowing to cover the travel expenses of women who must travel to other states for them.

Meanwhile, business leaders have also had to figure out how to manage employees’ impassioned feelings and discourse around the court’s controversial ruling.

“With respect to companies managing internal dialogue, we know every company has their own culture, values and approach to conducting business,” said Tracy Avin, CEO of the HR networking platform Troop HR. “While remaining respectful of that, it is of the utmost importance that employees know they have a safe space to deal with their professional matters and personal issues that may cross over into the workplace. Without that, there can be no trust, and trust is the foundation of any healthy relationship, professional or personal.”

With that in mind, Troop HR — which counts among its members HR executives from companies like Amazon, Walmart and Johnson & Johnson — has in recent days seen companies use employee resource groups (ERGs) to facilitate employee conversations, as well as executive leadership sending companywide emails to employees stressing their support for their teams’ wellbeing and the availability of managers for support.

For the full story first reported on, and published by, Digiday sibling WorkLife, click here.