Although Microsoft’s new policy doesn’t match Netflix’s scheme, announced Tuesday, in which a mom and dad will be entitled to unlimited leave for up to a year after the birth or adoption of a baby, it is a step in the same direction.
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The firm’s expanded leave outstrips generous packages offered by other Silicon Valley firms such as Yahoo!, which doubled its paid leave for maternity and paternity in 2013 to 16 weeks for mothers and eight for fathers.
At the same time, US law only requires that eligible new parents who have been at a company for a certain time be provided 12 weeks of unpaid leave.
Microsoft also says new parents can choose to take a full 12-week period off or split it into two stretches.
The change, which the company called an “unlimited” leave, will eliminate the need for employees to request state-funded leave or disability pay because they will continue to be paid their regular salaries.
The policy will apply to the first year that a child is born or adopted.
In a statement written on the Netflix blog, Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer, explained that the company works hard to foster a “freedom and responsibility” culture that enables workers to have trust from the company to take the time off that they see fit. Some have argued that a policy allowing employees as much time off as they want actually reduces the amount of time they wind up taking, because it makes workers feel guilty about staying away from the office.
Extended parental leave is the latest benefit that tech companies are using to compete for talented employees. Netflix’s policy looks to allow employees to take leave intermittently. Paternity leave varies at each company while Facebook tops the charts with its 17-week policy.
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“I work for a medium-sized company and men are shamed when they go out for longer than, you know, a couple weeks”, Sacramento resident Nancy Flores said. She said it would not be a significant cost for other employers to add several more weeks to their current paid leave. During his State of the Union address in January, President Obama lamented that the U.S.is the only advanced country in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave.
