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The US has been hit with a number of catastrophic weather events this year, from devastating wildfires in Los Angeles to deadly flooding along Texas’s Guadalupe River.
Employers say such events are affecting both their workers and business operations, according to Mercer data released on July 16 that draws from a survey conducted in April. Flooding and wildfires were the top two climate events employers cited affecting their workforces, with 50% of respondents saying their employees had been affected by these disasters in the last two years.
Overall, more than three-quarters (76%) of employers said their employees had been affected by at least one extreme weather event over the past two years, while 52% said their business operations had been affected.
These statistics provide “pretty good proof that this is something that employers need to be paying attention to,” said Tracy Watts, US Healthcare Policy leader with Mercer. HR teams are stepping up efforts to offer benefits for employees that might be affected by climate events, Mercer’s data shows.
Enhancing climate-related benefits. Mercer’s recent survey also indicates that more employers are implementing policies and programs to address climate risks for their workforce, with 66% already in place or planned for 2026, compared to 53% in 2025.
The most common benefit employers identified was mental health support for “eco-anxiety,” with 30% of respondents providing this. The eco-anxiety condition is characterized by distress related to climate change and its impact on the future, and has been cited as a potential impediment to employee productivity and wellbeing.
Other benefits intended to support employees affected by extreme weather include paid leave specifically for these types of events, a process to offer relief funding to affected employees, and streamlined access to certain benefits or support. Some employers also offer voluntary accident insurance to workers, Watts added.
The idea behind some of these offerings is to “enable the right kind of access” in a disaster, ensuring workers can get prescription drugs quickly, for example, or fast-tracking disability claims, Watts explained.
She noted that employers set a precedent for providing this kind of support during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many companies expanded sick leave benefits and boosted their mental health offerings. This “built an expectation…that businesses need to be aware of and take seriously when it comes to their human capital,” Watts said.