Advance Financial Bloomberg boost paternity leave

8 employers that boosted paternity leave

June 14, 2019 2:09 PM

Efforts are growing to help new parents in the workplace — but it’s not just mothers who are getting help from employers. More companies are boosting their parental leave policies for both new moms and new dads.

The percentage of paid maternity leave increased to 36% in 2018 from 26% in 2016, according to data from the Society for Human Resource Management. Paid paternity leave increased to 29% from 21% over the same period. Still, gender-neutral paid leave policies aren’t as common. SHRM indicates that 40 was the average number of days employers offered for maternity leave in 2016. For paternity leave, the average fell around 20 days.

Here are some employers that have boosted leave for new dads.

Reynolds American

The tobacco giant added a 16-week paid parental leave benefit at this beginning of the year — with an additional period of flexible scheduling in the following eight months — for new mothers and fathers following the birth or placement of a new child. The benefit applies to all 5,000 full-time paid hourly and salaried workers, the Camel and Newport cigarette maker says. It’s a big change, especially for dads: Prior to updating its policy, Reynolds American offered 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. In addition to the 80 days of paid leave, parents also are eligible for up to 64 additional days over eight months through a flexible work arrangement.

Read more here.

Bloomberg

The media company expanded its fully-paid parental leave program to 26 weeks from 18 weeks for primary caregivers, Bloomberg said last month. Under Bloomberg’s updated policy, primary caregivers, regardless of gender, will have 24 weeks full paid leave, plus 10 transition days, meaning the employee will have one day off per week for 10 consecutive weeks immediately following an employee’s return to work. “We recognize that every family is different, so our policies should reflect the needs of each and every colleague — across the world and regardless of gender,” says company founder and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Read more here.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

More than 60,000 employees — both men and women — at the tech company now have six months of paid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. The new policy, announced last month, is paid at 100% of employees’ salary and is available to both mothers and fathers. “We want to make sure we walk the talk with respect to work-life balance,” says Alan May, chief people officer at HP Enterprise. “That’s not a daily equation; that’s a lifetime equation.”

Read more here.

XPO Logistics

The transportation and logistics company this year rolled out a new paid parental leave policy for 47,000 eligible workers, giving primary caregivers six weeks of leave and secondary caregivers two weeks. The leave, which provides 100% pay for parents of a newborn or adopted child, can be taken intermittently.

Read more here.

VF Corp.

Last month, the maker of Lee, North Face, Vans, Wrangler and other brands rolled out a new parental leave policy for both moms and dads. Maternal, paternal and adoptive parents working at the company will have access to eight straight weeks of paid leave. Employees at the company’s retail locations and corporate office are eligible, so long as they work over 30 hours a week and have been with the company for over a year. VF has about 30,000 U.S. employees.

Read more here.

Eataly

In January, the Italian eatery rolled out a parental leave policy, which includes eight weeks of paid parental leave to mothers and fathers following the birth or adoption of a child. Employees will be paid for 100% of their gross weekly wages for their first four weeks of leave and the second four weeks will be paid at 60% of their gross weekly wages.

Read more here.

Advance Financial

Both men and women who have been employed at the Nashville-based financial services company at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours are eligible to receive up to six consecutive weeks of paid parental leave following the birth, placement or adoption of a child. The company added the new leave policy at the beginning of the year, but made the change public last month.

Read more here.