Parental leave policy making a difference for moms at Flow
EVERY MOTHER who has experienced childbirth can attest to the importance and value of quality time with their newborn and the positive impact on their health and well-being. That time is even more appreciated when job security for working moms is one less stress to worry about.
Two such moms at Flow Jamaica are hailing the benefits of the communications and entertainment company’s fouryear old Parental Leave Policy which allows birth mothers 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
Teneisia Faulknor, a retail sales adviser who said she “was a mom long before she actually became one”, after caring for her younger brothers for several years, was just grateful for the extra time to bond with her then newborn daughter, Tru, now 6 months old, and her son, 7-year old Kaishaun.
“The quality time spent with my children during the four-month period meant everything to me. By the time I returned to work, I was in a better frame of mind to face my customers and ensure their satisfaction with the services we provide,” Faulknor shared.
“It also helped that I didn’t have to worry about my salary for the entire period that I was off on my parental leave,” she added. In an article in the Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 66, 2019, Bullinger, L. R. notes that, “Parental leave policies are also linked with better mental health. Women who aren’t able to take as much time off, especially those who return to work in under two months, face more depressive symptoms and more marital and self-esteem problems.”
Another Flow mom, Shaneka Loy, mobile product coordinator, can also relate. After being a mother for five months, Shaneka knew the value of quality time bonding with her son, Rasheed, “gaining confidence in my parenting and improve my mental health during the post-partum period”. For her, having four months to spend with her newborn was a blessing.
“The most challenging period for me as a young mother were the first three months – from staying up to feed my son or just watching him to see if he’s breathing; handling such a delicate little person, being there for his first vaccines and the after effects; wondering if I’m going to fail him as a mother, if I don’t do it correctly,” were some of the thoughts Loy shared while reminiscing.
Loy credits her company’s parental leave policy, strong support from family, friends and co-workers as having a positive impact on her motherhood experience. Flow’s Parental Leave Policy also allows birth partners, adoptive and foster parents to benefit from eight weeks of paid leave following the birth of a child, placement of a child with an employee in connection with adoption or foster care, or birth of a child via gestational surrogacy. Recently, the company announced that all new employees are now able to benefit from maternity and paternity leave from their first day of employment.
In the public sector, mothers receive 60 working days with pay. Fathers of newborns are also eligible for paternity leave and parents adopting and bringing a new child into the home, adoption leave, for 20 working days, with pay.