The United States is known (at least in the world of parents) as being a part of the Final Four. We’re not talking basketball. We’re talking about the final four countries in the world that have no mandated maternity leave: Suriname, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and, yes, the United States.
Although maternity leave is not mandated, some U.S. organizations are taking matters into their own hands, giving parents more options when it comes to spending time with their newborn babies. One such company is Walmart, which recently made headlines for raising its minimum hourly wage and announcing a new parental leave plan.
Full-time hourly workers at Walmart will now receive 10-weeks of maternity leave at full pay—that’s more than what Starbucks offers, another U.S. company known for offering more parental leave options than most organizations. In addition, fathers and partners are eligible to take six weeks of leave at full pay.
This new plan is an upgrade from the old plan that only offered eight weeks of maternity leave pay at partial pay, and did not offer any benefits to dads, adoptive parents, or partners.
A step in the right direction
A 2017 Employee Benefits study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that only 30% of U.S. organizations provided paid parental leave, slightly up from 26% in 2016. Walmart’s new policy is a big step in the right direction and applies to over half of the company’s 1 million non-salaried employees, which means low-income families also have access to this benefit. According to a study by PL+US (Paid Leave for the United States), maternity leave as a benefit is only available to about 6% of low-income American families.
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Another reason why advocates are singing Walmart’s praises is because of the company’s influence. Walmart has long set the example in the labor force for worker’s wages and benefits. By lifting that baseline, many believe that more companies are more likely to follow suit in the near future.
Do you offer paid parental leave?
Offering better parental leave plans isn’t just a step in the right direction for society; it’s also good for business. Small businesses, in particular, can reap the rewards of supporting new parents. If your business doesn’t have a formal parental leave program in place, it’s time to develop one.
First of all, your business wins because you’re better able to retain your top talent. Instead of watching your best employees walk out the door because they don’t feel supported during such a pivotal time in their lives, you can keep your best workers. This leads to cost savings for your business. We oftentimes hear the figure that every new hire costs 150% of their salary. When you offer more extensive parental leave policies, you can save that money by retaining those valuable employees.
In addition to retaining your top talent, you’ll also be able to recruit better talent. Parents seek these types of benefits over the dollar amount in their paychecks. And by offering parental leave, you could steal the best of the workforce from your competition.
Perhaps you already have a healthy parental leave policy in place, or perhaps you haven’t thought to include one in your small business’s benefit plan. Will you rethink of what you offer in light of Walmart’s decision?
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