Mark Zuckerberg took some time off work when his daughter was born. Every time a CEO from a well known company takes parental leave, it brings that topic back into the news cycle. There is a growing interest in allowing parents to spend time with their newborns. Where do different companies stand on that topic?
Mark Zuckerberg, as you probably are aware, is the CEO of Facebook. He announced on his Facebook page that he would be taking 2 months of paternity leave when his daughter arrives. Part of his post included the following:
Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families. At Facebook we offer our US employees up to 4 months of paid maternity or paternity leave which they can take throughout the year.
Amazon recently announced that they will offer 20 weeks of paid leave to new birth mothers. Amazon will offer six weeks of paid leave to “other parents” (including fathers). Amazon also has a “Ramp Up Program” that allows birth mothers and primary caregivers 8 weeks of flexible time upon returning to work.
Interestingly, Amazon will allow parents to share up to six weeks of their parental leave with a partner who does not have paid leave through his or her employer. In other words, Amazon will let an employee who has become a new parent to return to work and, at the same time, receive their paid parental leave. That paid leave is to support the employee’s partner, who has left work to stay home with the newborn.
Beginning in November of 2015, Microsoft started giving its employees, who were new mothers (and who were in the United States) up to 20 weeks of paid leave. Non-birth parents can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave. This is an improvement which gives Microsoft’s workers 8 more weeks of paid parental leave than they were previously offered.
Netflix has updated its parental leave policy. Previously, Netflix offered new parents (both mothers and fathers) unlimited paid paternal leave during the first year of the birth or adoption of a child. The paid leave is flexible, and the worker will receive his or her fill salary during their leave time.
Recently, Netflix extended their parental leave policy to include hourly workers. Those who work in Streaming will receive up to 16 weeks of full pay for maternity, paternity, and adoptions. Those working in DVD-by-mail can have up to 12 weeks. Customer service employers will be covered for 14 weeks.
Apple allows employees who are expectant mothers to take up to four weeks of paid parental leave before the baby is born. Mothers receive upwards of 14 weeks after the baby is born. Expectant fathers (and other non-birth parents) can take a total of 6 weeks of paid parental leave.
Image by Emiliano Horcada on Flickr.
Related Articles at Families.com:
* Paul Ryan Brings Up Paid Parental Leave
* Investigating Maternity Leave Options
* Newborn