Department of Defense Awards CVS Health the 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award

WASHINGTON –­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense office, announced today that CVS Health has been awarded the 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

“Only two other Rhode Island companies [Citizens Bank and Cardi’s Furniture] have received this award since it was established in 1996,” said Mike Ritz, RI State Chairman of ESGR. “We are very pleased to recognize CVS as the champion employer of our service members.”

Fifteen employers from across the nation received the prestigious award, the Nation’s highest honor given to employers for exceptional support of Guard and Reserve employees.

“These outstanding employers have not only earned this award, they have earned this Nation’s gratitude,” said Defense Secretary Ash Carter. “I am truly honored to recognize these 15 organizations for their unwavering support of our military men and women and their families. Their accomplishments are a vital piece of our National defense and a high standard toward which all employers of Guard and Reserve members should strive.”

CVS Health, based in Woonsocket, RI, earned the award for a number of reasons, including:

• In 2013, CVS Health established a pilot program to give hiring preference to veterans and members of the Guard and Reserve for predefined categories of jobs.
• CVS Health created the VALOR Support Group, a group of employees committed to taking action to support veterans and create a veteran-welcoming work environment. VALOR has renamed primary conference rooms at corporate office locations to honor members of the military. In 2014 plaques were installed in memoriam of a former CVS colleague who had left to serve and was killed in action.
• Through “Operation Career Connections” and the White House initiative ”Joining Forces,” CVS Health has committed to hiring veterans and military spouses for 25 percent of its new hires in logistics and distribution centers nationwide.
•  CVS Health works with employees married to Service members — helping them transfer to another store, for example, when their spouses are sent to a new duty station.
•  CVS Health established dialogue with the military regarding mobile career opportunities for military spouses. CVS Health is a part of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership.
•  CVS Health launched a dedicated military career page. CVS was one of the first companies nationally to pilot a Military Occupational Code (MOC) translator to assist with matching up military skills with their civilian job postings.
•  CVS Health supports organizations that help veterans and Service members, including donating dozens of laptops to AMVETS for use in Fisher Houses.

The 2015 Freedom Award recipients were selected from 2,960 nominations received from Guardsmen and Reservists for going far beyond what the federal law requires to support their military employees.The recipients are named below:

The Freedom Award was instituted in 1996. These outstanding employers join an elite group of 205 previous recipients of the award.

For more information about the Freedom Award and this year’s recipients, visit www.FreedomAward.mil.

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