Latest news with #paidleave
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
4 Large Companies Top List For Best Paid Leave Policies In 2025 Index
The 2025 Leading on Leave Report highlights paid leave trends among large companies, including ... More expanding employee eligibility, lowering barriers to use, and covering a wider range of caregiving needs. Increasing employee demand for paid leave, particularly among young workers, was among the top employee benefits trends of 2024. Gen Z workers ranked paid leave as their top employee benefits priority in a 2024 MetLife survey. When asked about critical factors in selecting a job, 71% of Gen Z workers cited paid time off, according to a 2024 Economist Impact report. So which large companies have been most responsive to these shifting employee priorities? The National Partnership for Women & Families released its 2025 Leading on Leave Report today. The report recognizes companies with comprehensive paid leave policies and highlights key trends in paid leave innovation. The four large companies recognized as NPWF 2025 Leaders on Leave, in alphabetical order, include: This list was based on data gathered between June and October of 2024, in response to NPWF's invitation to private sector companies to apply to the Leading on Leave Index. NPWF scored each of the 20 applicants' paid leave benefits based on alignment with best practices. The four companies recognized as leaders achieved top scores for their paid leave policies among the applicants with an annual revenue of $1 billion or more. 'Despite growing demand, 73% of U.S. workers still lack access to paid leave,' said Jesse Matton, Director of Corporate Social Impact Policies at NPWF, via email. 'With the Leading on Leave report, we're spotlighting companies that are turning policy into action—and showing that transparency and innovation are critical to both workforce equity and long-term business resilience.' In addition to recognizing corporate leaders on paid leave, NPWF aggregated data from the Leading on Leave Index to identify key trends in paid parental, family, and medical leave benefits. Three trends stood out as effective innovations among large companies to better meet employees' caregiving needs. Large companies are expanding eligibility along several key dimensions, including offering paid leave benefits to both full-time and part-time employees. Responsive companies are making paid leave available to employees on their first day of work, without any length of service requirement. Large companies are also increasingly meeting the best practice of offering paid parental leave to both primary and secondary caregivers. Some large companies are adopting more flexible family definitions for paid family and sick leave to reflect shifts in modern family structures. While typical policies cover caregiving for children, spouses and parents, innovative companies are also covering leave for extended family members, such as siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and even some nonfamilial relationships. Many large companies are responding to the gap between paid leave eligibility and actual use by ensuring full salary coverage during leave periods, allowing intermittent leave, and easing employee notice and documentation requirements. Large companies are also abandoning any requirement that employees find another worker to cover for them before taking leave. Some large companies are experimenting with return-to-work policies that ease employees' transition back to the workplace after extended leave periods. Best practices include allowing gradual reentry and flexible work arrangements. Large companies tend to have more segmented paid leave policies than small and medium sized companies. Among large companies, there is a trend toward expanding categories of paid leave for various employee needs, including bereavement, pregnancy loss, abortion travel, and safe leave for sexual, domestic or other violence-related exigencies. Leaders are recognizing that competitive paid leave benefits are becoming a business imperative. But the lack of any 'standard' paid leave package, along with a lack of benefits transparency, has made it challenging for even well intentioned companies to achieve this goal. Companies have a growing number of resources available to help design competitive work-family benefits. But it remains challenging for companies to accurately benchmark their full range of paid leave policies against industry competitors. NPWF's new Leading on Leave Index helps companies meet employee demand by allowing business leaders to accurately assess and improve their paid leave benefits. NPWF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with over 50 years of experience on paid leave policy research, analysis and legislative advocacy. The Leading on Leave initiative is designed to maximize corporate participation by eliminating any downside risk. Companies voluntarily submit a free application by providing details on their workforce demographics and paid leave policies. Unlike many public ranking systems, NPWF's Index keeps all individual company data private, unless a company consents to public disclosure. NPWF does not disclose the names or scores of companies that participate and do not achieve Index recognition. Confidentiality empowers companies to provide complete data without concerns about poor ratings that may impact their reputation. The objective is to enable companies to receive valuable feedback, while allowing NPWF to analyze more complete data on industry trends. Participating employers receive individualized feedback on how their paid leave policies align with best practices, tailored recommendations for improvement, and benchmark data among industry comparators. As Matton explains, the Index fills the communication and transparency gap by 'offering a roadmap for employers to lead on leave and drive better business outcomes.'
BreakingNews.ie
05-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Government urged to act on miscarriage leave after Foley support
Children's Minister Norma Foley has been accused of 'kicking the can' over paid leave after miscarriages, as she expressed support for the measure but said it was a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure. Currently, women are entitled to full maternity leave if they have a stillbirth or miscarriage after 24 weeks. Advertisement However, the Labour party said that many women and men are familiar with the devastation that results from an early miscarriage, adding that women have had to take annual leave to 'recover from the heartache and the physical effects of this experience'. It has brought forward a Reproductive Health Related Leave Bill, which would provide for any woman who suffers an early miscarriage to have paid time off to recover. In March, the UK government agreed to ensure bereavement leave covers miscarriage, after a 'gap in support' was identified for those who experience pregnancy loss. Asked if she would support paid leave for women who suffer miscarriages, Ms Foley said: 'Absolutely.' Advertisement However, the minister said it was not within her gift to grant. 'I absolutely would but I respect that a minister has to go to the [Department of Public Expenditure and Reform] in relation to that and that argument has to be brought out. The Fianna Fáil minister added: 'We are seeking, from a gender point of view, to give maximum opportunity to all, including women. 'So that's in terms of employment, in terms of their health, that's in terms of supporting them in every opportunity. Advertisement 'So obviously I would be very supportive of that but it would be a matter for another minister to get that one over the line, but I would be very supportive of it.' Labour TD Marie Sherlock. Photo: Niall Carson/PA. Asked about Ms Foley's comments, Labour health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock said: 'The amount of can-kicking when it comes to providing what is ultimately compassionate leave for women in the workplace is unbelievable. 'Labour published a Bill to provide paid time off work to recover physically and emotionally from pregnancy loss. 'Rather than the Department of Children kicking it to the Department of Public Expenditure and so on, why can't Fine Gael and Fianna Fail just make good on their commitment to women to progress Labour's Bill?' Advertisement She said the previous Fine Gael and Fianna Fail Government commissioned a report in January last year which recommended the introduction of policies to provide time off work following pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Ms Sherlock added: 'How much longer will they make women wait? 'Yes, offering paid miscarriage leave supports gender equity, but crucially, specifying miscarriage leave is an acknowledgment of this enormous loss that so many women experience. Ireland Convicted rapist who harassed three female journal... Read More 'It will reduce the silence around pregnancy loss and ensure that women have access to leave when it matters most. Advertisement 'Since the introduction of the Labour Party Bill, I have been inundated with women sharing their experience of loss. 'The majority of these cases are unexpected. It is a profoundly sad and devastating experience and it demands attention from this Government.'
Fast Company
09-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
What do moms really want for Mother's Day? Paid leave
Many brands take advantage of Mother's Day to sell more products, like flowers and cupcakes. But 50 companies, including workwear label M.M. LaFleur, framing startup Framebridge, and stroller brand Bugaboo, are joining forces to draw attention to America's lack of federal paid leave. Across the country on Saturday, May 10, the nonprofit MomsRising, the Paid Leave for All campaign, and 50 brands are hosting pop-ups in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Nashville; Hoboken, New Jersey; and Cleveland, offering more than $100,000 in donated goods and services. The idea is to help new moms by giving them things like formula, breast pumps, clothing, and strollers, while also giving them a little break with massages and food. For those who can't attend in person, there is a nationwide giveaway that moms can enter or nominate fellow moms to receive things like care packages. Ultimately, though, the goal is to show that this kind of mutual aid is not enough. What mothers and other caregivers need is paid time off after they give birth. The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world without a federal paid leave policy, and as a result nearly a quarter of mothers have returned to work within just two weeks of giving birth. (This can be unsafe: After a C-section, doctors recommend that women rest for at least six weeks as their scars heal.) While some companies voluntarily offer workers parental leave, many don't. For example, in Ohio and Tennessee, 72% of workers don't have access to paid family leave; in Pennsylvania, that figure is 62%. And families lose $34 billion every year because women take unpaid time off. As a global brand, based in the Netherlands, Bugaboo interacts with parents from around the world. Jeanelle Teves, the company's chief commercial officer, has seen the positive impact of paid leave in other countries. 'Especially when you're having your first child, giving birth and taking care of an infant can be overwhelming,' she says. 'It makes such a difference when parents don't also have to worry about their jobs during this period.' She also points out that in the U.S., it is often wealthier people working at white-collar jobs who have access to paid time off from their employers. 'In many other countries, there is this sense that all parents deserve this time to focus on their families for a while,' she says. 'It takes a lot of flexibility to get a new life underway' Dawn Huckelbridge, founding director of Paid Leave for All, contends that this is not just a human rights issue; it's also a business issue. Companies that have good family leave policies are better able to hire and retain workers. 'A federal paid leave policy will ensure that companies have the resources they need to give workers time off,' she says. Susan Tynan founded Framebridge a decade ago as the mother of small children. From the start, she wanted to ensure that all workers had paid time off. Today, the company has 600 employees, 500 of whom work in manufacturing or retail stores. All of these workers receive four months of paid time off after having a baby, and one month of flexibility as they return to work. The non-birthing parent also gets a month off. 'It takes a lot of flexibility to get a new life underway,' Tynan says. She points out that this kind of generous policy is much harder for a smaller, newer startup. Most small companies don't have enough staff to fill in for the person who is on leave, so they might have to hire someone else, which is an added expense. 'Even though we all know someone who has given birth should be on leave and should be supported, the company needs to continue to run,' says Tynan. 'A [federal] paid leave policy would be better for the economy because it would allow businesses to thrive and help women stay in the workforce.' Huckelbridge notes that this campaign occurs at a time when the country is dealing with many pressing political issues brought on by the new administration, including job cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency and deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But the goal of the campaign is to ensure that the fight for paid leave continues—even though this administration may not seem particularly amenable to it—and perhaps more importantly, to provide hope that paid leave is possible. 'The point of this campaign is to ensure that people feel seen,' says Huckelbridge. 'We want them to know that we see their struggle and we're fighting for a better future.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Paid family leave is a work perk for Pa. lawmakers but probably not you
This story first appeared in How We Care, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring original reporting and perspectives on how we care for one another at all stages of life. Sign up for free here. State Rep. Jen O'Mara was 18 when her youngest brother was born. Her mother had to go back to work after three weeks, leaving the Delaware County Democrat responsible for the baby. 'As an 18 year-old, I had no idea how to care for a newborn,' she said at a March legislative hearing. 'I'm lucky that he made it. We all made it, but it was a challenging time for our family.' O'Mara is now the mother of a daughter and pregnant with her second child. 'To think about the privilege that I will have as a soon-to-be mother again, that I can take maternity leave, that I won't have to worry about whether or not I continue to be paid or receive my paycheck,' she said, 'it's just a gift I wish my mom had — not a gift, a benefit.' O'Mara was one of 14 lawmakers who voted in March to advance a bill out of committee to create universal paid leave in Pennsylvania. Under the Family Care Act, employers and employees would pay into a fund administered by the Department of Labor and Industry. Employers with 14 or fewer full-time employees would be exempt from this tax. The legislation, which has received bipartisan support, would provide up to 20 weeks of paid leave for new parents or individuals recovering from an illness, surgery, or injury. It would also give Pennsylvanians up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Access to paid leave in Pennsylvania is generally determined by where residents live and work. Philadelphia and Allegheny County mandate that businesses provide it through local ordinances. For the rest of the state, employers decide the conditions under which someone can take off work to care for, say, a sick child. There's even variety within the legislature. Staffers' length of leave depends on the chamber or caucus they work for, according to internal policies. For example, employees working for state House Democrats or Republicans get eight weeks of paid parental leave, but those in the Senate do not. Lawmakers set their schedules and take time off at their discretion while still receiving their entire paycheck. State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D., Montgomery), a supporter of paid family leave, said she spent three months out of the office after her daughter was born in March 2023. Over email, she told Spotlight PA that she jokingly refers to her toddler as 'the bipartisan baby.' Leadership on both sides of the aisle agreed to allow her to vote by proxy during her parental leave, and Cappelletti said fellow senators were very understanding of how difficult it can be to adjust to life with a newborn. 'I am grateful for the support and relationships I've developed, but am always a bit perplexed about why I deserve this support, but our constituents don't,' she said. Access to paid family leave at all is rare. According to federal data, just over a quarter of private industry and non-military government workers in the U.S. have it. High earners are more likely to have this benefit than low-wage workers, meaning people whose only option is to take unpaid time off from work are also less likely to have the financial means to go without a paycheck. Tim Potts, a good-government advocate and a previous press secretary for former House Speaker H. William DeWeese (D., Allegheny), said elected officials should forgo paid family leave until they make it available for all Pennsylvanians. 'Until they do that, they shouldn't do it for themselves. Especially not when they're not paying for it. It's not leadership that's providing these benefits. It's taxpayers,' Potts said. State Rep. Dan Miller (D., Allegheny), who introduced the Family Care Act, wouldn't comment on whether it was contradictory or hypocritical that he and his colleagues can take paid leave when many Pennsylvanians can't. But he told Spotlight PA that he sees access to it as a moral issue. 'Nobody wants to let down the ones they love,' he said. Under Miller's bill, people would receive between 50% and 90% of their salary from the paid leave fund; the lower one's income, the higher their reimbursement. To be eligible, Pennsylvanians would need to have worked at least 18 weeks in the past 12-month period. People couldn't claim benefits if their employer had a waiver exempting them from the program. And employers could seek an exception if they already provide paid leave benefits that are at least equal to what the fund delivers. Miller's bill was voted out of the state House's Labor and Industry Committee along party lines and now awaits consideration by the full chamber. In an email, a spokesperson told Spotlight PA that Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) hopes the legislature can get a bill to the governor's desk this session. The Family Care Act's chances in the state Senate are cloudier. Last year, the chamber considered a separate version of the Family Care Act, introduced by Devlin Robinson (R., Allegheny). Unlike the House bill, which would split costs between employers and employees, Robinson's version would have solely relied on employee payroll deductions. Both bills cap the employee contribution at 1% of someone's income. Robinson's legislation passed out of the state Senate Labor and Industry Committee with the support of Robinson and three other Republicans, but it never received a full vote from the GOP-controlled chamber. Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) was one of three Republicans on last year's Labor and Industry Committee who voted against the bill. Spotlight PA reached out to Ward for comment but received no reply. More employers are providing paid leave. Federal research shows that between 2014 and 2023, the percentage of private sector workers in the U.S. who have the benefit went from 12% to 27%; for state and local government workers, it grew from 16% to 28%. This is a positive trend, said Elizabeth Stelle, vice president of policy at the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based think tank that researches and promotes free-market policies. Stelle wants the legislature to create policies that support the further expansion of paid leave, but told Spotlight PA that forcing taxpayers to subsidize it for the entire state would be bad for the economy. Stelle argued it's inappropriate to compare the paid leave policies of the state House and Senate to Pennsylvania's entire workforce, which comprises many industries and jobs with unique demands. 'It's completely apples and oranges,' she said. Her main issue with the current state House version of the Family Care Act is that it raises taxes on businesses. She warned the legislation could result in layoffs, force companies to sever other types of employee benefits, or raise prices. New Jersey implemented paid family leave in 2009, and a 2012 survey by the state's Business and Industry Association found that the effects on its members were mixed. Many of the 259 businesses that responded said they had yet to have an employee take paid leave. But nearly a third said the law had a negative effect on their profitability or performance. Larger businesses were more likely to have higher costs related to overtime pay, while smaller businesses reported greater administrative burden. Stelle instead wants more targeted solutions, such as policies that lower health care costs. This would make taking unpaid leave more affordable, as workers would have more money on hand. Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labor economist and senior fellow at the think tank Capita, said the lack of a universal paid leave policy is more a market failure than a matter of lawmaker hypocrisy. For some businesses, like those in leisure or hospitality, Edwards explained, providing paid leave will always be too costly because of extremely low profit margins and high employee turnover. For other industries, like health care, employers don't want to provide flexibility to their staff, as that also increases costs and administrative burden. But addressing the dearth of paid leave is within the ambit of the legislature, she said, arguing the overall economic cost of not having it is also too high. When people cannot take off without risking their jobs, 'You lose workers, you lose earnings, and you lose those dollars in the economy,' she said. As for the cost to taxpayers to provide access to paid leave, Edwards said it should be considered a tradeoff rather than a burden: More Pennsylvanians in the workforce earning money means fewer people relying on publicly funded programs like Medicaid and nutrition assistance. For Potts, access to leave is ultimately a matter of fairness. With so many Pennsylvanians struggling, he thinks it's wrong for lawmakers to create fixes for themselves but not for their constituents. 'You got to say it's hypocritical, you just gotta,' he said. BEFORE YOU GO… If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
