From coffee to vacation, your questions answered.

On today’s special edition of Up To Speed Live, host Andy Choi was joined by Chief Human Resources Officer Christy Pambianchi, who answered Work Forward questions from V Teamers. Andy also shared the following updates:

BI5GEST promo ever

Let’s talk about our BI5GEST upgrade ever. Even before yesterday’s official announcement, we took to the skies over the holiday weekend to let folks know something big was coming. From coast to coast, along some popular beaches, scores of people watched overhead as we delivered the message “Verizon has big news for you tomorrow.”

Then, on yesterday’s Up To Speed, we shared how our biggest upgrade ever is huge news for small businesses. On today’s episode, Tami Erwin shared more on Verizon Business, including information on some of our partnerships during this past weekend’s Indy 500. Go, fight, win!

We’ve also got some famous friends sharing the news. You may have seen one of our spots featuring Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon and Grammy Award-winning artist Meghan Trainor on Entertainment Tonight and social media.

Be on the lookout for a future Up To Speed episode in which Meghan helps Andy learn about the concept of a Glow Up. Because as Megan pointed out, trading in that phone for a new 5G device definitely counts as a Glow Up!

Most importantly, we heard reactions from customers and retail reps who are excited about our Biggest Upgrade Ever. Thanks to all who participated.

Work Forward

Last week, Christy joined us to provide an update on how and when we are rolling out Work Forward. Today, she returned to answer questions from V Teamers.

As Christy explained, Work Forward is Verizon’s future of work with three models that will transform how, when and where we work:

• Worksite-based: V Teamers whose work is exclusively performed at a defined work location, including retail stores, garages or in the field.
• Home-based: V Teamers whose work is performed almost exclusively from a home workspace with occasional in-person gatherings.
• Hybrid: V Teamers whose work is tied to a defined work location or area, but allows for flexibility to work from home and the office with a set schedule determined by their director.

For our U.S.-based employees, your leaders will share working models by this Friday, June 4. If you're in the Hybrid working model, you will also learn your wave for timing on training and onboarding.

For our union-represented employees, you will remain in your current state and we will keep you informed on discussions with the unions.

Waves

There will be four waves throughout the third quarter to gradually introduce hybrid team members to Work Forward.

• Wave 1: Teams are onboarded in June and have full access to the office by July.
• Wave 2: Teams are onboarded in July and have full access to the office by August.
• Wave 3: Teams are onboarded in August and have full access to the office by September.
• Wave 4: Teams are onboarded in September and have full access to the office by October.

While we encourage V Teamers in Waves 1 and 2 to test out their schedules over the summer, Hybrid employees will be expected to follow their in-office schedule beginning September 7.

Our 3,200 pilot participants completing their training to become Work Forward-certified will gain access to our offices starting in June.

Scheduling Hybrid employees

The Hybrid working model offers employees the predictability of knowing their schedules with the flexibility of working at home and in the office.

During onboarding, directors will learn how to set their team’s schedule. Directors will focus on the job functions of their teams — what they do and who they need to work with to be as effective as possible. After schedules are set, all V Teamers will have visibility into the days you and your team members are in the office.

Employees will continue to certify through the Return to Office tool on the days they intend to access the office or another work location.

Let’s talk food

Office pantries will be opened in July. That includes microwaves, refrigerators and coffee areas. For offices with Starbucks on site, you can get your fix starting July 6. If there is outdoor seating at your work location, those will be open for use.

We will share location-by-location food hall openings on our Work Forward microsite, so you can take a look during your onboarding and plan accordingly.

Worksite-based and Home-based

Just like Hybrid teams, our Worksite-based and Home-based V Teamers will need to understand all of our working models to collaborate effectively. We will provide updates in the coming weeks on what to expect.

International V Teamers

The goal is to have everyone up and running in Work Forward by October, including our international teams. That said, there are likely to be some differences in approach across international locations. Some countries and municipalities are still under COVID 19-related restrictions, so we will align our return-to-office strategy with local requirements.

Childcare

With many care facilities reopening, we are reinstating the pre-pandemic program for emergency back up care starting July 1. Through our partnership with Bright Horizons, employees will be eligible for up to 80 hours of emergency backup care through the remainder of 2021.

Additionally, for employees living in areas where caregiving options are not broadly available, we will retain our uncapped backup program, which allows employees to tap into their personal network and get reimbursed $15 per hour, up to $100 per day. As an added bonus, we will offer care.com as an extra resource for employees to find caregiving options and tap into their suite of resources.

Vacation

In 2020, we increased the maximum vacation accrual level from 150% to 175% for U.S. management employees. That limit was scheduled to run through the end of 2021, but we will extend that to the end of 2022, so that employees have more time to take their allotted vacation days.

Talent GPS

We heard loud and clear through VZPulse surveys and other touchpoints that V Teamers want more development opportunities and resources.That's why we developed Talent GPS — to empower our V Teamers to own and drive their careers.

Talent GPS will offer visibility into other jobs within Verizon and the possibilities within reach based on the skills and competencies needed to succeed in those roles.

Tomorrow, we will share a Talent GPS 101 video with details on the multi-phase, multi-year journey, including the initial phase that will focus on a market-driven job architecture with consistent job families and titles. Please note, bargained-for employees are not part of this initial phase.

When fully rolled out, V Teamers will use Talent GPS to determine where they are on their current career path and decide if they want to stay the course or explore an entirely new direction. We want to empower employees to realize their greatest ambitions and Talent GPS will put them in the driver’s seat to own and build their future at Verizon.

Story time

With Christy talking about careers, we want to remind you that our popular LinkedIn Live sessions are back. This Thursday, Pete Casale, the mastermind behind this very show, will be talking about storytelling. Pete does not get in front of the camera very often, and if you have worked or even been on a call with him, you know this is going to be a fun one. So check it out this Thursday on our “Inside Verizon” handle on LinkedIn live at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT.

Friday’s weather report

In case you missed it, yesterday was the official start of hurricane season. This Friday on Up To Speed Live at 12 PM ET/9 AM PT, to help us all get prepared, we’ll be speaking with AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski about what we can expect in this hurricane season, what Verizon does to ensure connectivity and products you can get to make sure you stay connected.

Showing our Pride

Also, during this month of June, we’re showing our Pride as we come together to celebrate our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer communities. You likely saw an email from our Public Policy leader Craig Silliman reminding us that this year’s theme is Words of Pride, which we’ll bring to life by amplifying the voices of our LGBTQ community.

If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.

Click here for a transcript of the webcast.

Get the latest information on our Coronavirus Resource Page (Inside Verizon, The Street).

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