PARENTAL LEAVE - At Netflix

"Why Netflix just offered the most generous parental leave policy in the country" PBS NewsHour 8/5/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Netflix has announced that it will be offering employees unlimited paid parental leave of up to a year after one gives birth to or adopts a child.  Netflix joins other tech companies that offer generous family leave packages, in stark contrast to what most American workers receive from employers.  Hari Sreenivasan learns more from Sarah Jane Glynn of the Center for American Progress.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Netflix employees will be able to determine their schedules for up to a year after having a baby.  A few other tech giants have also set a new standard in recent years.  Google provides more than four months of paid leave for biological mothers.  Apple offers a similar amount.

But for most new parents, it’s a very different story.  Just 12 percent of private sector employees in this country have access to paid family leave through their job.

Some context now on the Netflix policy and whether others will follow suit at all.

Sarah Jane Glynn studies these issues and advocates for greater leave as the director for women’s economic policy at the Center for American Progress.

So, how big of a deal is this Netflix announcement?

SARAH JANE GLYNN, Center for American Progress:  Well, it’s a huge deal, in that this is the most generous policy that I’m aware of any American company offering for new parents that work for them.

But you’re right to note that only 12 percent of workers currently have these types of voluntary policies through their employers, so while this is a tremendous boon for people who are lucky enough to work for Netflix, the majority of the work force is not going to be impacted by it.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Netflix is already in a specific category. It’s an enormous company. It’s in the tech sector, where it’s actually pretty competitive to try and recruit people. But what’s the ripple effect likely to be on an auto manufacturer or an iron plant somewhere else in the country?

SARAH JANE GLYNN:  Well, I think there’s a couple of really interesting things to keep in mind here.

One is, as you noted, tech companies are known for offering these very generous leave policies.  And part of the reason why they do that is because they have recognized this is a really effective way to recruit talent and to retain that talent.