Netflix maintains a network of DVD distribution centers across the country.
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Adobe on Monday said it would extend its paid parental leave policy, with the announcement coming on the heels of Netflix, which said it would offer corporate employees up to a year of paid leave to care for the newly born.
The benefits of paid leave for both new parents and the businesses that employ them are well-documented. In contrast, workers in Britain are given up to a full year of mostly-paid family leave. Sir Richard Branson was rightly lampooned for making unlimited leave at Virgin conditional on staff being “a hundred per cent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project”. Parents can also opt to return part-time and still earn full-time pay during that first year.
However, Netflix is not the first major company to offer progressive packages for parental leave. Birth mothers can earn up to 26 weeks of paid time off. The Family Act, which would provide federally mandated leave, is now stalled in Congress. Then Microsoft expanded its benefits to 12 weeks. With my second, I returned to work early in order to maintain my position.
“So there are a lot of parents out there scrambling”, said Owens, who believes we need mandatory paid maternity leave in the United States (the only advanced industrialized nation that does not mandate paid maternity leave).
The standard set by Netflix sounds “incredible” to Danny Carroll, an Indianapolis pastor who took little time off when his 4-year-old son, Ethan, was born. As of now, there has been no comment from Netflix over the petition and the criticism. But not all companies will necessarily want to do that. There are other reasons that Netflix is taking some criticism, however.
Netflix’s new policy applies to its employees only during the first year of a child’s life or following its adoption.
On media agency referred to the new policy announced by Netflix as being a game changer. From November, the workers at the tech firm will be able to take 12-week long fully paid leave after having a child.
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Deep-pocketed tech companies, which often have majority male workforces, can afford to offer workers generous amounts of paid leave. In addition to that, tech jobs in Silicon Valley are made to be very competitive. With that ideal comes a feeling of inadequacy or not measuring up if any leave is taken. They show they are trying to make the job work for the employee, rather than expecting the employee to make it work for the corporation. If he does take it, his leave from the office would need to be structured in a way to send the best message to Facebook’s employees. Contrast that sense with the so-called “leaky pipeline” of female employees who leave or downshift in their careers. It should be the standard, not the exception. “I think it’s problematic to say you can never do anything… that enhances the chances for professional women, unless you address the entire structure of income inequality at the same time”, Williams said. And Starbucks, which refers to even part-time employees as “partners” and trumpets perks such as education reimbursement, doesn’t mention parental leave policies anywhere on its website and did not respond to our request for comment.
