On February 8, Bloomberg shared some long-awaited news about Apple: Retail employees are getting a boost in benefits, effective April 4.

Specifically, the article noted, store workers will get double the paid sick days, more annual PTO, and paid parental leave.

Undoubtedly, the move is influenced by the impact of the Great Resignation — and perhaps a touch of employee dissatisfaction over CEO Tim Cook’s handling of remote/flexible work during the summer of 2021.

Apple’s recent move underscores the importance of protecting not just your strategists, marketers, and HQ teams, but those who are on the ground selling your product.

The biggest coup: Part-time workers will get as many as six paid vacation days and paid parental leave. That’s practically unheard of — historically, part-time workers haven’t received much in the way of benefits at all.

My point is not that yet another company is rolling out yet another stratagem to fight the Great Resignation. We’re flooded with those efforts. My point is that Apple is finally giving part-time workers their due — and setting an example for other companies to follow.

Equally important is this otherwise small detail in the new benefits package: Sick days can be used for mental health leave and taking family members to the doctor. This should be amplified as much as possible; it’s an overdue acknowledgement of the outsized impact of mental health issues in the modern world and the critical importance of family and community care.