Employees can return to work part-time, or return to work full-time for a few months and then leave again.
Advertisement
In a blog post on the company’s website on Tuesday, Netflix chief talent officer Tawni Cranz said new mums and dads would be allowed to take as much time off in the first year as they want. So, it really isn’t just about medical recovery time for moms – it’s about a new family getting to bond and grow as best suits them.
With the new perk, the video streaming service now offers a policy on par with many of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies – which are already progressive by U.S. standards.
“At Netflix, we work hard to foster a “freedom and responsibility” culture that gives our employees context about our business and the freedom to make their own decisions along with the accompanying responsibility”, she wrote. We’ll just keep paying them normally, eliminating the headache of switching to state or disability pay. Less clear is whether Netflix will actually be able to encourage its employees to take more time off when they become parents. After it bumped its maternity leave from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, Google said new mothers were leaving the company at half the rate they did previously.
Advertisement
Without a clear policy, employees may feel they need to take less time off in order to work the same hours as their colleagues or to appeal to their managers. Employees can set their own schedules in the year after bringing babies into their families and their pay will continue as usual. I wholeheartedly agree with Netflix’s assertion a happy home means a less stressed, more productive employee, though I’m not entirely sure how their work-if-and-when-you-want policy is going to play out.
