The Future of Maternity & Parental Leave - What really matters

4 MINUTE READ

Last week I dove into some research and asked the question: What companies out there are doing the best maternity/parental leave offering in the North America?

What I discovered surprised me and so I share it here to build some awareness around the topic and put it back on your radar so you can incorporate these learnings in your strategy around Maternity, Parental and Family Leave.

This (sometime overlooked) benefit is what 85% of employees report is now a MAJOR factor when they are considering who to work for.
If you haven't looked at your offering for a while, or you are offering the bare minimum based on your local employment law standards, it may be time to dust off your old thinking and step into the future and an under-utilized way to attract and retain top talent.

Based on the research I conducted, the big surprise  I found was that there is no one leading company in this realm, however, the offerings out there are diverse and reflect the companies philosophy around family, bonding and their employees living a full, complete whole life.

The top themes that the best and most innovate companies include in their programs are:

1. Extended Paid parental leave - irrespective of gender. (In the US this looks like 6 months fully paid, available for mum and/or dad)

2. Adoption assistance programs with reimbursements (to the tune of $10,000 in assistance)

3. Return to work flexible policies ie: working from home, part time options etc

4. Salary Top Up for the length of leave - taking financial constraints off the table as a reason for a mother or father to need to come back to work early. 

5. Egg freezing and fertility assistance 

The most important factor I uncovered? Genuine open leadership who are willing  to be in a conversation about what is going to work for you in your new reality as a parent. 

I hope this was helpful, this is a trend I will be watching closely and will update and spotlight on. I have included an article (below) on The Estee Lauder Companies and their new family related benefits that have recently been updated and modified to meet the needs of their diverse range of employees with the commitment to "providing an abundance of options that will help their employees thrive inside and outside of work". 

Forward by, Tess Sloane, Talent Lab