Amazon announces paid paternity leave

Under a “leave-share” policy, new parents will be able to share a portion of their six-week leave with their partners if those partners are unable to get paid time off, according to the WSJ. Other tech companies such as Facebook, Apple, Google and Yahoo all offer maternity leave of at least 16 weeks for birth mothers, and at least six weeks paternity leave for fathers and non-biological parents.

Under the new policy, birth mothers will be entitled to a total of 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, including four weeks of paid leave before the baby’s birth. The company said the benefit would be available to full-time salaried and hourly workers, including those who work in its fulfillment centers and in customer service. Birth mothers who are also new hires will be eligible for 4 weeks of pre-partum and 10 weeks of maternity leave, and Restricted Stock Units for employees on parental leave will continue to vest at the normal rate.

America remains an outlier when it comes to guaranteeing paid parental leave. The benefits also apply to adoptions.

Amazon, however, is also adding another feature to its program that appears to be unique.

Amazon.com is increasing its parental leave program, granting more time off for parents after the birth of a child.

Leave Share is a novel program and we hope it helps provide you and your family with additional flexibility during this special time, Amazon wrote in a message to employees obtained by Jezebel.

Tech firm Nvidia also announced a sweetened parental leave policy Monday.

Better benefits are one way employers are differentiating themselves as the job market recovers, he said. Last month, the company fired back at the Times and accused the paper of unbalanced reporting and shoddy fact checking.

“We conducted employee focus groups and solicited input from Amazon New Mothers classes, AWE leadership, and Amazecon participants”, read the statement.

While this example describes a birth mother at Amazon sharing her leave benefits with her husband, Leave Share will work the same way for Amazon fathers and same-sex couples. Microsoft, which employs about 1,100 in its offices off Arrowood Road, in August said it would offer 12 weeks of paid time-off for all new parents.

Life for new parents at the online retail giant just got a little easier. Taking paid leave does not require managerial approval, and can be done in one or two segments at any point in the first year after childbirth. The Seattle-based company previously didn’t offer paternity leave. “All employers need to also manage the culture of their organizations so that policies are used without jeopardy, retaliation or being sidelined because people think you are no longer interested in advancement”, says Matos. “But when they do start to have families, this is the type of stuff they’re going to demand”.