A wealth of appreciation for you, V Team.

On today's very special Up To Speed, we shared many of the ways Verizon celebrates you, our V Team.

Employee Appreciation Day

It's National Employee Appreciation Day here in the U.S. But of course we're going global, honoring the achievements and contributions of our more than 100,000-strong Verizon employees around the world, as well as our partners, vendors and everyone who supports our customers. We celebrated all week across the business, as leaders and V Teamers showed appreciation for colleagues with videos, ecards and shout-outs.

It's time for Stock Together

VP of Compensation Erin Crooks joined Up To Speed to talk about Stock Together, our broad-based equity award program that creates opportunities for all of us to share in the success of Verizon.

The highlights:

• 2024 is the fifth year we're issuing Restricted Stock Units to employees. A Restricted Stock Unit or “RSU” is a hypothetical share of Verizon common stock. The value of the RSUs can rise or fall along with our Stock Price, so when the company does better, so does the value of your RSUs.
• The awards vest, subject to your continued employment, over a three-year period, with one-third of the grant vesting each year on the anniversary dates of the grant. If you received a 2021, 2022 and 2023 Stock Together grant, a portion of all three awards vested today, March 1.
  • The final third of 2021 grant pays on March 12 into your Fidelity account.
  • The second third of 2022 grant pays on March 19.
  • The first third of the 2023 grant pays on March 26.
• The 2024 Stock Together grant date is today, March 1, and the 2024 new award will appear in your Fidelity account on March 28. One-third of the 2024 grant will vest in 2025, 2026 and 2027.

Once the awards start paying out on the dates above, employees can transfer the balance or U.S. employees can reinvest the funds within their Fidelity brokerage account. Learn more about Stock Together.

Financial planning from Fidelity

Since we’re talking about Stock Together, we want you to remember that financial help is just a call away. With Fidelity, U.S. employees can get free consultations with a Fidelity Planning Consultant.

Invest in You Event on March 13

We encourage all U.S. employees to join us on March 13 when we’re co-hosting a financial wellbeing event with Fidelity called “Invest in You." Whether you’re paying down debts, saving for something special or need help to prepare for the unexpected, this special workshop will help you feel more confident to tackle your financial goals and take care of your financial wellbeing.

Programs that do more for mental health

Today, we're introducing our new Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) provider – Spring Health – in the U.S. and a new EAP platform for international colleagues called Help Where You Are. Kevin Cammarata, who leads Verizon benefits, joined Up To Speed to tell us about the big announcement.

"For 2024, we're taking a holistic and inclusive approach to wellbeing, which we call Your Best You, so employees feel supported to show up healthy and fully," said Kevin. "Mental wellbeing is at the core of this commitment.”

With Spring Health, U.S. employees get:

• Personalized resources to support with any of life’s challenges
• Dedicated support through a care navigator
• Six free coaching sessions and six free counseling sessions for employees and members of their households every year

All of this will be powered by a digital platform to take care everywhere, including the ability to schedule appointments.

U.S. employees can go to verizon.springhealth.com to create an account and take a brief self-assessment. Learn more about Spring Health.

Help Where You Are is a new platform for international employees enabling enhanced care and employee assistance, including six coaching sessions and five counseling sessions per issue per year. International employees can visit global.helpwhereyouare.com (company code Verizon) to get started. Learn more about Help Where You Are.

Journey Forward

Our final guest today was Steve West, who leads our Global Talent Acquisition Team. Steve’s team is focused on bringing the best talent to Verizon and they have programs that help us tap into specialized talent pools like Thrive —our apprenticeship program —along with our military recruitment, internships and more.

"One of the things we’re really excited about this year is our focus on internal mobility and how we can make it easier for employees to learn about opportunities that would be a good fit and for our recruiters to search internally for talent the same way that they do externally," said Steve. "This will open up a new level of employee experience and career opportunities and it’s coming soon with the next evolution of Talent GPS."

Steve encouraged V Teamers to update their career profiles in V Team Central so you are ready to take advantage of all of the new features we're putting in place to help you navigate your career. Internal mobility is part of Journey Forward, the umbrella for all the career development programs and tools available to V Teamers including internal mobility, performance management, training, Talent GPS and so much more.

Recognizing You

Did you know employees prefer to receive praise from their colleagues? One great way to do that is with Recognizing You. On our Recognition site, you can send a Simple Thanks to a V Teamer, or, with approval, send a monetary Spotlight award.

Women's History Month

To close, we wished everyone a happy Women's History Month. First celebrated in 1987, Women's History Month commemorates and encourages the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. Our WAVE employee resource group has a host of great events this month to celebrate. If you're not yet a member of WAVE, sign up today and join us for the celebration. Remember, this month we're relaunching WOW Connect, a learning series to empower women and their allies with the knowledge, skills and strategies to thrive in today’s ever-evolving workplace. Watch for more information to come.

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