The United States is one of the only countries in the world that does not offer paid family leave. Recently, Netflix, among other companies, announced it will greatly expand its paid family leave program. It has pledged a full year of maternity and paternity leave for employees that adopt a child or welcome a newborn into the world. The decision has yielded both praise and criticism, and has opened up a conversation about what is best for companies, employees and the economy.
Why Are Critics So Worried?
After Netflix announced its new paid maternity and paternity leave, many took to Web to congratulate the company on its progressive HR decision. However, Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune notes that shortly after the congratulations, the criticisms started. Some doubt the program will be successful while others ventured out to predict the policy would actually hurt women.
Huppke disagrees. “…Studies have shown — and logic dictates — that workers granted the time they need around a major life event, like the birth or adoption of a child, are more devoted to the company and likely to work harder.” The article also takes issue with the notion that too much flexibility will leave workers overwhelmed, or that it would create additional pressures to work harder as some have suggested.
“One writer said that giving a mother more time to spend with her child might make her less likely to return," Huppke lamented. "So because of that speculation we shouldn't offer new parents paid time off? That's like saying, ‘Oh, you know parents, once they get to actually liking that child they'll just want to abandon their careers and stay home all day.”
In the U.S., some states and companies do offer paid time off. However, the only universal guarantee is 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Ultimately, the article advocates bringing the U.S. into line with the rest of the majority of the free world and praises Netflix and other companies working to make the transition to a new child easier on families. Still, skeptics remain.
It’s the Right Call As Long as the Company Wins
In a more cynical take on the HR policy changes, Wired recently examined the “selfish” reasons companies are moving toward paid maternity and paternity leave. Netflix, Microsoft, and Adobe are among some leading Silicon Valley companies to announce expanded leave programs. Facebook and Google already have comparatively generous programs in place.
The companies issued statements pointing out the mutually beneficial nature of the paid leave programs and emphasized how important a positive workplace culture is to success. Some, though, offer a slightly less altruistic point of view. “They’re not doing this to be nice,” says Bruce Elliott, the manager of compensation and benefits at the Society for Human Resource Management. “They’re hoping to see a return on investment.”
The Wired piece also points out that the programs are out of sync with the high-stakes atmosphere in Silicon Valley, which could send mixed signals to employees. “Silicon Valley, in particular, tends to promote a work-all-the-time ethic—an attitude it signals with on-campus dining, gyms, and laundry services, all of which telegraph the message that you never need to go home: it’s all taken care of. There’s just one thing missing: your kids,” the article states.
Further, companies that don’t have a workplace culture that is accepting of time off may be exposed to a conflict between what’s allowed and what’s expected.
Could the Government Could Make it Work?
In yet another take on the matter, Steven Pressman, emeritus professor of economics and finance at Monmouth University and treasurer of the Eastern Economic Association, said a government program could be run through Social Security and function as an insurance policy. Writing in the Asbury Park Press, Pressman laid out a system to accomplish a government-run program.
“It would be easy to do this in the U.S. at no cost by just delaying the date at which people can collect full Social Security benefits if they take paid parental leave. For example, 12 weeks of paid leave for any one parent could require both parents to each work an extra six weeks in order to collect their full Social Security benefit upon retirement,” he said. “For a family with two children, each parent would need to work an extra 12 weeks or three months to collect full benefits. Parents could still retire at their normal retirement age and collect lower monthly benefits, but they would get a little less money as a result.”
By doing so, there should be a reduction in childhood poverty, which is a drain on the national GDP, and the difference would allow the program to be self-sufficient, he says.