Netflix to offer parents unlimited maternity and paternity leave

Netflix announced Monday that it would offer “unlimited” paid parental leave within someone’s first year of being a parent. The 12 weeks will be a fully paid period for both the mother and the father. “Companies are moving away from hard and fast rules to whatever the employee and supervisor agree to is fine”.

“It raises the bar”, said Stewart Friedman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and founding director of the school’s Work/Life Integration Project, to Business Insider.

A day after Netflix announced it would extend parental leave for its American employees, Microsoft is following suit.

Most U.S. employers offer some sort of paid, short-term disability leave – usually six or eight weeks – for women who give birth.

Silicon Valley workers, previously content with perks such as free gourmet food and table football, are growing up, having children and demanding employers account for the shifting priorities of their workforce. And in one slide, you know, it says, like every company, we try to hire well. Nothing is new about this.

The fact that the tech giant is still trying to up its offerings reflects that companies are finding family leave policies beneficial. Most jobs, however, don’t allow for that kind of flexibility, she added. The policy may also lead to a more balanced workplace.

Another significant factor behind this movement is the rise of connectivity through digital platforms. It turns out that a disparity exists even within Netflix.

If the plan works as it’s supposed to, each employee simply “figure[s] out what’s best for them and their family”, and then “works with their managers for coverage during their absences”.

“If organizations introduce such policies but foster a hostile culture that disapproves their use, these benefits will fail to produce the intended outcome”.

However, Netflix is not the first major company to offer progressive packages for parental leave. However, it was unpaid time off. I saved all my vacation and sick hours and used those during my leave so I could at least collect a partial paycheck.

It’s a good policy that people can customize to meet their own requirements. And to prevent post-natal stress, they are given another option: to return to “work on a half-time basis”. Netflix, which also leaves vacation time open-ended, has an office culture of what it calls “Freedom and Responsibility”. Employers who fall under the order’s purview would be expected to provide a minimum of about seven days of paid leave per year and to allow the leave to accrue year after year. Additional paid benefits are sparse. Customers may be inspired to support a company that aligns with their values. “We have a pretty strong flexible-work program”.

“While we are participating in the government’s review, we are not opposing the merger”, Netflix spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo said in a statement, according to Reuters. I think we’re placing women in actual danger and we’re not helping businesses either.