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Did you know that most parental and maternity benefits offered by companies are NOT extended to adoptive parents? Somdatta Chakraborty, author and new mother, writes about her experience as an adoptive having to fight for maternity leave — and how companies can do better. Read our latest on Humanise. https://lnkd.in/gpMwTBuZ

Wondering if it's appropriate to ask about parental leave policies in the interview? It's a valid concern many candidates share, where such details are often tucked away in the company handbook rather than highlighted as a key benefit. Hats off to Campaign for their comprehensive agency survey, shedding light on paternity leave offerings - invaluable data indeed 🙏 Policies are evolving, with some agencies setting the standard. OLIVER Agency boasts an impressive 52 weeks of full-pay maternity leave, Goodstuff Communications provides 39 weeks, and both the7stars, Bountiful Cow, and Pablo London offer 28 weeks. It's worth noting, media agencies seem to be out in front on this front. Pioneers like AMV BBDO and Havas CX helia offer six months of equal leave for all parents, a commendable approach 🏆 For a full breakdown of the 40 agency policies surveyed, visit: https://lnkd.in/dDbh5YVE #ParentalLeave #MaternityLeave #PaternityLeave #EmployeeBenefits #WorkplaceCulture #HumanResources #FamilyFirst #CampaignSurvey #AgencyLife #Inclusion #Diversity

A company’s parental leave and flexible work policies matter, even to their customers. I learned about the Kyte Baby parental leave policy PR nightmare from a Mom on my social media feed where she also stated she canceled a "huge order" for Kyte Baby. The CEO of the Texas-based baby clothing company (Kyte Baby) issued two (the first was not well received) apologies after denying a remote work request by an employee whose recently adopted baby was admitted into a neonatal intensive care unit. The employee (according to her sister) was fired for requesting to work remotely while staying with her baby at the NICU. The new mom had to start a GoFundMe page to meet the steep NICU costs as well as various adoption and legal fees. Kyte’s entire social media brand is mother and baby-friendly. This a reminder that parental leave is not protected across the United States. Only a handful of states have laws mandating paid leave; workers often find themselves at the mercy of their employers’ requirements after adopting or giving birth. This is also a reminder that many consumers watch how companies treat their employees, and it informs their opinion of the brand and its products and services.

After ten months of paid maternity and parental leave for my second child, it was my first day back to work. I wanted to share some thoughts around taking extended parental leave as a new parent while working at Airbnb: In many countries around us, it's pretty normal to be with your new child for a year or so (or even longer). In the Netherlands unfortunately it is not. It is pretty common here that mothers start working when their babies are 3 or 4 months old. I did this with my first child, so nothing wrong with going back to work if that feels right, but I found it extremely hard to survive a 40 hours working week at a fast paced company with such a small baby (try functioning with 4/5 hours sleep for at least a year with a sick kid at home half of the time). So, I wanted to do it differently this time... When I had the first conversation with my manager about wanting to stay at home for a longer period of time, at first, it felt weird to actually express my wishes. I was looking for arguments to justify staying away from work that long. My manager stopped me and said: Fai, I really don't need to know why. Take as long as you need and can. Family is your priority. We will take care of the rest. I remember I felt relieved and grateful. At Airbnb I have always felt supported and empowered as a parent and I am really happy that the company (with generous benefits), my managers and my colleagues (with endless support) gave me the opportunity to combine work and life and (sort of) balance it even through tough times. It really helped me navigating pregnancy and now parenthood. To give a little insight in Airbnb's fantastic benefits for upcoming and new parents, let me summarise a few of them: -Extended maternity leave: Airbnb pays 100% salary for an additional 6 weeks on top op the 16 weeks maternity leave in the Netherlands. -Child bonding leave for non-birthing parent, adoptive parent or surrogate parent: Airbnb pays 100% salary for 14 weeks. -'Phased return to work': work 80% whilst continuing to be paid 100% of the salary for 12 weeks. -Business travel support for new parents to attend Gathering Weeks: Airbnb pays for caregiver with a child under two traveling with you. -Welcome home new child new child gift: Employee Travel Credits and a benefit allowance. -Breast milk shipping & transportation: Airbnb covers the shipping cost for nursing parents and surrogates to transport or ship their breast milk home for business or personal travel.  -Personalized coaching and support: helping expecting and new parents navigate parenthood via Cleo, including free trainings. -And many more fantastic benefits, for example to work from anywhere up to 3 months a year. A nice one when you have children that don't go to school yet and a partner that works remote too. Are we there yet? Absolutely not. No company is perfect. We still have lots to improve. But for now, I thank Airbnb and my colleagues for all the support. Now, onwards and upwards! 🚀

New rights supporting working families coming into place next month.  Sharing this short article from our Employment department which outlines the new changes coming into effect from 6 April 2024.  #STS #employment #paternityleave #carers #redundancy #pregnancy #flexibleworkingregulations

On 6 April this year, the Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 come into force. The new laws extend the special protection given to employees who take maternity or other statutory family leave so that the protection extends beyond the leave period. It extends the right for protected employees to be offered first access to suitable alternative employment in a redundancy situation when: ·      They are in the ‘protected period of pregnancy’; ·      They have recently suffered a miscarriage; and ·      They return from maternity, adoption and shared parental leave. It’s a significant and welcome step towards creating a more family-friendly workplace, extending the period of special protection from redundancy for employees who are on maternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave. The extended period of protection from redundancy will give new mothers and parents (18 months from childbirth) more time to adjust to their new roles and responsibilities, without the added stress of job insecurity. Many other European countries already have extended protections for new parents and so it is encouraging to see the UK implementing similar practices. The legislative extension secures better protection for working parents from discrimination and should be warmly welcomed. It also means that employers will no longer be placed in a scenario where they are better off making org changes immediately after an employee returns from maternity leave, often after a new parent has already expended significant effort and expense in securing childcare arrangements, which then will not be utilised as planned. Employers should take note of these changes and ensure that they are take them into account in the context of organisational changes. #UK #MaternityLeave #AdoptionLeave #SharedParentalLeave #LoveWhatYouDo

New rights aimed at helping working families will apply from 6 April 2024. These include new rights for carers; improved paternity leave; changes to flexible working regulations; and extension of redundancy during pregnancy and return from maternity leave. Details are set out in the attached article. https://lnkd.in/e9g5yMSS

According to Glassdoor, around 40% of the workforce are working parents - and a survey from abrdn Financial Fairness Trust found that 71% of mothers worried ‘a lot’ about money during pregnancy or maternity leave. Some big stats right there... Feeling grateful that when the opportunity arises, Intentify Demand offers a supportive, diverse and equality-driven family leave policy which will in turn promote employee engagement and retention. Maternity and paternity leave is a full time job in itself, whilst navigating new ventures so having the flexibility and removal of financial stress is a blessing. https://lnkd.in/e-jaGmJc #maternitypolicies #paternitypolicies #matleave #supportinggrowingfamilies #intentifydemand

The amount of paternity leave that dads can take really does differ depending on the industry. The banking, law, insurance, telecommunications and finance industries are some of the best. With many organisations in these sectors offering equal or enhanced parental leave for dads. This is often driven by competition. I've found the sports, automotive, retail, manufacturing, construction and PR/comms industries have some of the poorest paternity leave packages. The statutory 2 weeks, with some examples of enhanced leave up to 6 weeks, seems to be the norm in these sectors. However, it's positive that we are seeing this information more widely collected and published, as with this article from Campaign UK 👏🏽👏🏽 The publication of these policies will help when people are choosing there next role. We know that young, talented and mobile employees are valuing family friendly policies and cultures just as much as monetary remuneration. Enhanced and equal parental leave, along with good flexible working, is key to dads being equal and active parents. And this is important for gender equity, wellbeing and outcomes for our children. Thanks Lori Meakin for bringing this article to my attention 😊 #ParentalLeave #PaternityLeave #EqualParenting #ParentingOutLoud https://lnkd.in/eFMxdC3G

54,000 women are made redundant on maternity leave each year in the UK 🤯 Our own Jodie Loftus, Flexible Working & EVP Consultant at Flexa, has experienced this first-hand. In January, prior to starting her journey with us, and while on maternity leave, Jodie was forced to leave her job. Last week, the law changed to better protect those who are pregnant, on maternity or adoption leave, or those returning to work after having a baby 🙌 Employers must now offer a suitable vacancy (if there is one) from the point that an employee informs their employer they’re pregnant until 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, the child’s birth date, or date of adoption; for employees returning from maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave. A step in the right direction, but there's still a lot more that can be done to protect those on maternity leave and make the return to work a more positive and accessible experience ✨ Whilst Jodie isn't the only one to go through this, her story is indeed unique, and she's kindly shared it with us in a blog post. To read about her journey and learn more about the recent law changes in the UK, check out her article here: https://bit.ly/4aTZVGh 👈 Have you had a similar experience? Let us know below ⬇️ #FlexibleWorking #MaternityLeave #Redundancy #FutureOfWork