The Tax Research company (TTR) in the US has announced that all employees – of all genders – now have the option to take up to 12 weeks paid leave to care for a newborn or adopted additions to their family. This is in addition to any requested unpaid leave.
The US is the only country among 41 nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents, according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD.) Yet almost half of two-parent families in the US now include two full-time working parents. The recent bill signed by the President has made paid leave mandatory for Federal employees, but companies are not legally required to provide paid time off for new parents.
MEANINGFUL POLICIES
“In the US, companies are required to allow 12 weeks unpaid time off or leave for both men and women,” commented Shon Holyfield, CEO of TTR. “Beyond that, there is no requirement. I was talking to executives from Europe about their policies and they just made more sense than what we were doing here in the US. Most companies let professionals take their personal time off (PTO), but that is about it. It doesn’t seem reasonable to assume a professional can get back to ‘normal’ after 20 or 30 days of paid time off. It often takes longer to adjust for a new family. Whether a newborn or adoption, there is a lot to do when a family expands. Our people do so much for us, it is nice to find meaningful ways to give back to them.”
Understanding employee’s needs, and adjusting policies to meet those needs, is one factor that has placed TTR on the Best Places to Work in Oregon list five years in a row.
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