Yahoo, a leading company that is frequently in the news for its human resources decisions, has increased the amount of paid leave available to both mothers and fathers upon the birth/adoption of a child.
Yahoo’s policy allows new mothers and fathers to take up to 8 weeks for full-paid leave. If a woman gives birth to (rather than adopts) the baby, the woman may take an additional 8 weeks of paid leave (for a total of 16 weeks of paid leave). Before the policy change, fathers were not allowed any paid leave to care for a child, and the amount of maternity leave differed at Yahoo based on the state of employment.
Yahoo will also provide new parents with up to an additional $500 to pay for new child care expenses.
This policy may be more generous than many employers’ policies, but it seems to fall below the parental paid leave options available in the tech world. Recognizing the importance of parents in the workplace, employers may wish to review their maternity/paternity policies when evaluating benefit offering and employee retention.