Noodles & Company announced the expansion of its already comprehensive team member benefits program, known as LifeAtNoodles. Noodles & Company is offering new benefits in areas that matter the most to team members including education, wellness, family planning, expanded time off, and recognition initiatives for all team members.

“We are constantly focused on how we can make Noodles the best place to work in the industry and we are proud of these new benefits that honor our commitment to inclusion and diversity,” says Sue Petersen, vice president of human resources at Noodles & Company. “We want each team member to know that they are welcomed and valued at Noodles & Company, and we believe that improving on our existing benefits closes the advancement gap and provides everyone a seat at the table.” 

Creating an uplifting and inclusive environment where everyone feels that their voices and interests matter, the new benefits focus on the prioritization of mental health by offering free in-person and virtual counseling for all team members. Noodles & Company is also debuting mental health awareness live webinars, focusing on identifying mental health symptoms, and supporting individuals with mental health issues to ensure all team members are supported. 

“We understand the strain of work and home life along with the additional stress of the COVID-19 pandemic and how this impacts our team members, which is why these mental health benefits are so important to us,” says Petersen. “COVID-19 has drastically increased mental health instability, with 53 percent of adults in the United States reporting that their mental health has been negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the coronavirus, which is 21 percent higher than reported in March, pre-COVID. We want our team members to know that we care about their mental health and that they have our full support.” 

Noodles & Company also supports team members’ growing families by offering six weeks of paid paternity leave and surrogacy and adoption assistance for qualifying team members of up to $10,000. This is in addition to Noodles & Company’s back up dependent care assistance, which provides team members with 10 days of back-up child, elder, or pet care to assist with unexpected situations, and exceptional phase-in and phase-out maternity leave which includes 100 percent pay for a reduced schedule during the four weeks before and after the arrival of a child. Furthermore, Noodles & Company is offering tuition assistance for all team members and their immediate family to help families meet their educational goals and career dreams.  

Noodles & Company also deeply believes that the voices of its team members matter and values the right to exercise democracy by providing resources for team members to register to vote and offering paid time off for all team members to vote. The company now offers one hour of paid time off to vote via mail or in person at the polls, which can also be combined with flexible scheduling to accommodate team members’ work. 

These new rollouts are the latest additions to LifeAtNoodles, Noodles & Company’s comprehensive, competitive team member benefits package. LifeAtNoodles’ program is committed to support inclusion and diversity and is full of restaurant industry firsts that make Noodles & Company a great place to grow careers. Even during unprecedented times, Noodles & Company deeply understands the value in investing in its people by offering benefits and opportunities that will foster an inclusive and diverse environment where team members and guests can thrive.  

“Our growing list of industry-leading benefits begins opens doors and opportunities for team members both inside and outside of work,” adds Dave Boennighausen, chief executive officer of Noodles & Company. “These new benefits help us to not only better serve our existing team members, but also help us appeal to a wider range of potential team members who’ve maybe never imagined that a job in food service can grow into a life-long career.”  

The full list of LifeAtNoodles benefits includes: 
(*indicates newly added benefits) 

Education & Wellness  

• *Free flu shot for all team members
• *Free in-person and virtual mental health counseling for all team members
• *Tuition assistance for all team members and their family
• *Weight loss program assistance
• *Free Dental services for children under 14
• English and Spanish courses
• Student loan debt assistance

 

Growing Your Family  

• *Six weeks of paid paternity leave (increase from two weeks)
• *Surrogacy coverage up to $10k
• Six weeks of paid maternity leave
• Maternity phase out/phase in program
• Adoption assistance up to $10k
• Free breastmilk shipping

 

Financial  

• *Backup dependent care program
• Instant Pay
• Free team member meals
• Annual holiday turkeys
• Annual holiday gifts for team members’ children

 

Time-off  

• *Paid time off to vote for all team members
• *Paid bereavement for miscarriage
• *Floating holidays
• Sick paid time off for all team members
• Veterans Day paid time off for active military and veterans
• Ability to gift time off to other team members

 

Recognition and Inclusion  

• Gender neutral bathrooms
• Gender identity options (explicitly/formally encouraging the identification and use of pronouns that each team member identifies with)