Paid-leave primer
Key elements to include in this vital policy for new parents
The U.S. shockingly does not guarantee paid leave after the birth of a child, leaving each employer to determine whether to offer anything above the unpaid six weeks required by law. That’s in stark contrast to other advanced nations.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development studied paid maternity leave for about 34 OECD countries — advanced nations — and seven other European Union countries. On average across OECD countries, mothers are entitled to 17 weeks of paid maternity leave, according to PolitiFact. The United States is the only country with no national law to provide that benefit.
Only 13 percent of American women receive any kind of paid leave through their employer, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Yet research links maternity leave to higher employee retention. Google, which was one of the first major companies to offer an extended maternity leave of up to six months, concluded that the rate at which new mothers quit was cut by 50 percent thanks to the improved policy. At my company, Fairygodboss, we’ve found a direct correlation between women’s overall job satisfaction and the amount of maternity leave taken.
More and more companies are using enhanced paid-leave programs to support gender equality and working parents. In 2016, at least 23 major companies, including Nike, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Chobani, announced dramatically enhanced programs. (Fairygodboss tracks this information on its site.)
If you are interested in coming up with a solid paid-leave program, here are a few key elements to put in place:
It’s 100 percent paid: For years, many companies have stopped short of offering their female employees paid leave in the U.S., so women lose their income during the time they take off from work after childbirth.
It’s a terrible double-whammy: At a moment when their household expenses increase dramatically, they lose up to a quarter of their annual income.
Even companies with generous paidleave programs sometimes pro-rate the bonuses or commission plans, which also stacks up to lost income.
It would be generous and competitive to pay parents during leaves. But even some of those new parents without paid leave are having to work from home while they’re supposed to be away and caring for children.
As one friend told me: “I checked in regularly and took phone meetings during both my leaves, even while I wasn’t paid. That meant I was effectively working for free in order to preserve my job. That just left me feeling taken advantage of.”
It’s for women, men and adoptive parents too: I recently spoke with Lorna Hagen, senior vice president of people operations at OnDeck. She refers to her program as “baby-bonding” leave to emphasize that it’s not just for women who have given birth; it’s a benefit for all parents to adjust to a new family member.
Some of the most notable leave policies announced in 2016, including those at American Express and Etsy, are the same length for men and women. A 2010 research study by the University of Oslo linked fathers taking paternity leave to greater children’s performance at school.
In 2015, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gained national attention for taking two months off after the birth of his daughter. Zuckerberg’s leadership in this space should be applauded. If a male CEO can take time off without negatively impacting his company, anyone can.
It’s at least 12 weeks: New parents lose an average of six months of sleep in the first 24 months of the lives of their children. Sleep deprivation is indeed a form of torture.
It’s also hard to perform well at work, especially while basically having two jobs: one as a professional and one as a parent.
Taking twelve weeks off without the stress of lost income helps parents get the rest they need and adjust to their new role and responsibilities at home. It applies to all employees: In August 2015, Netflix announced a 52-week parental leave policy, applying to women and men. The generous policy applied only to salaried employees — meaning it omitted hourly employees, most of whom worked on the DVD side of the business. Netflix took responsibility for this oversight, and by December 2015 had updated its policy to include hourly employees as well.
Ikea’s recent announcement of four months paid parental leave to employees regardless of gender was also notable because of the paid leave for hourly employees.
It comes without any penalties:
Law firms tend to have some of the most generous paid maternity leave policies — some as high as 22 weeks. Still, their employees often don’t feel they can take the time off without risking career progress or even their jobs.
As one lawyer reported to us: “People take maternity leave, but I think that people are discouraged from taking the full leave and full paternity leave when they are close to being up for partner.”
No one should feel guilty for taking their full leave or have to worry about not advancing because of their rightful time with their new babies. This message needs to come from the very top of companies.