The Washington Post is expanding its paid parental leave policy. Starting next year, all new parents at the news organization will be able to take 20 weeks off to bond with a new child, up from the four weeks of leave the company previously offered.
“For years, the company's limited parental leave of just four weeks forced parents to use sick time or vacation time during the crucial first months of their children’s lives. For couples at the Post, who had to divide the limited leave offered, these policies were particularly burdensome,” The Washington Post Guild, the company’s employee union, wrote in a
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The Post is not alone — across the board employers are boosting paid parental leave policies. J.M. Smucker
Although employers are making strides, less than half of companies offer paid parental leave. About 27% of employers provide the benefit to workers, up from 17% in 2016, according to data from the Society for Human Resource Management.
The Washington Post’s new policy is comparable to some other news organizations. The Wall Street Journal also offers employees 20 weeks of paid parental leave and The New York Times
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Adding paid parental leave was a high priority, the Post's guild says. Moving forward, the union plans on continuing to advocate for other changes, including eliminating pay disparity, diversifying the newsroom, improving healthcare benefits and supporting worker mental health. Some employees at the Post took to social media to show their support of the company’s new policy.
“This is big news [and] more evidence that union efforts at particular outlets benefit the entire industry,” Hamza Shaban, a technology reporter for the Post,
