3 reasons to adopt more robust parental leave benefits

As the only wealthy country in the world without national paid parental leave, the bar for parental leave programs in the U.S. is low and the negative impacts are far-reaching. 

Working parents are often anxious and struggle to find adequate support. With these uncertainties, your employer clients have the opportunity to reimagine parental leave, cultivate deep trust and provide certainty for their employees. 

Before we present ideas for new solutions, it's important to first examine the current state of parental leave. Within workplaces, birthing mothers often experience the consequences of lackluster leave benefits firsthand. These employees not only navigate when to announce the timing of their pregnancy and how to prepare plans for their leave, but they do so while experiencing extreme hormonal changes, physical discomfort, countless medical appointments and an immense responsibility of nurturing a new life.

Are companies doing enough to support them? Though many organizations offer some form of parental leave support, these programs commonly lack the innovation and imagination that would truly usher in transformational change and fix broken systems.

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The time is now to proactively embrace bold new solutions to conquer the pain points of parental leave benefits. Here are three reasons why: 

1. Employees are expanding their families
Maven Clinic has reported that 47% of employees are currently expecting a child or possibly planning to grow their family in the next one to two years. Parental leave is an ongoing experience that will continue to impact employees, so why not use this event as an opportunity to deepen systems and consider new solutions that support the team holistically?

2. Existing solutions are driving burnout for parents and beyond
In fact, over half of all parental leaves result in team burnout. Burnout is not only bad for the health of employees, it can be detrimental to the bottom line as well. Organizations that dismiss the risk of accelerating team-wide burnout due to parental leave lose money, time and energy, whereas those eager to confront it and build better support systems set themselves up for success.

3. Family-friendly benefits are a key driver in retaining and attracting the best talent
They matter to employees, with nearly 70% of employees accepting or considering taking a new job in the past year because of better reproductive and family benefits. Where the government has failed many Americans by not providing standard mandatory leave laws, employers are in a powerful position to provide stability, deepen their culture and become the envy of their competition. 

Read more:  What benefits do your working parents actually need?

As problematic as this seems, it is also an opportunity for growth. There are innovative solutions within reach for companies eager to start from scratch and reimagine how we might holistically care for all employees during parental leave periods. For instance, instead of distributing workload among existing employees and placing everyone at risk of burnout, organizations might consider the positive impact of outsourcing coverage of the role, even at a fractional level. 

New thinkers in this space are presenting holistic offerings to support companies with all three phases of parental leave: advance comprehensive planning before leave, executing the work during leave and managing the reintegration strategy for the new parent's return. This type of fresh approach could be a perfect solution for HR teams that don't quite know where to begin, but recognize that the status quo isn't driving impact.

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Organizations want to build trust with their people, which requires care and support on an everyday basis. With a life event as common as parental leave, expecting parents and surrounding team members all have a front row seat to the ways an organization shows up for them. And let's be clear: Advocating for a culture of trust isn't simply about the warm fuzzies. Instilling workplace trust is often a direct factor in the financial profitability of an organization. 

The time is now to revisit parental leave benefits within organizations for several compelling reasons. Research suggests that nearly half of teams are planning for family expansion, existing leave periods often cause team-wide burnout and family benefits remain a large factor in both attracting and retaining the best talent. By adopting new parental leave strategies, organizations are well-positioned to stand out from the crowd, deepening trust and cultivating a culture of compassion.