Netflix, Inc NFLX just corrected its parental paid leave policy for good. The streaming service giant faced flak over its “biased” leave policy announced in August that only allowed salaried employees to take unlimited paid leaves for the first year after birth of a child or adoption, while leaving out its entire hourly wage workforce.
The policy met with severe criticism from activist groups. The activists have long been advocating that every individual, regardless of their stature should be entitled to enjoy parenthood. Moreover, a baby is a huge responsibility and it would be nice to have fathers around to share the workload, thus giving paternity leave a much needed recognition. Netflix’s management seems to have taken note of the concern leading to the announcement of a major change in its parental leave policy.
As per the changes, effective from 2016, hourly workers at its streaming and DVD distribution centers will get fully paid 16 weeks and 12 weeks maternity and paternity leaves, respectively, while adoptive parents too will get the same benefit. For the Customer Service division, workers will get 14 weeks of paid maternity, paternity and adoption leaves.
Earlier, only maternity leaves were covered at two-thirds costs for streaming and DVD distribution employees while Customer service employees just got 60% of their pay cheques. Paternity and adoptions leaves were completely ignored for all the divisions.
Netflix, which carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), said that “We always look for ways to improve as a company and that means regularly reviewing policies and benefits to ensure we are competitive and can attract and keep the best employees.”
The change was welcomed by activists but with a tinge of criticism. The policy is still not fair as it still favours the 2,000 strong white collar workforce of the streaming division. Ultraviolet, a women’s right advocacy group, said that though Netflix took a bold step in bridging the divide, it would be great if the company adopts an unbiased stand and extends unlimited extended paid leave policy to all its employees. Moreover, Reuters reports that a group of six activists have so far got over 100,000 signatures in the last four months to put “pressure” on Netflix to lift its "two tiered baby benefits" policy.
However, sources quote Netflix saying that “fundamentally as a company, we want to offer coverage for all three—maternity, paternity and adoptions. Differences in benefits result from decisions made by the leadership of those parts of our business as well as the competitive landscape for each.” The company’s DVD business has been losing its sheen as people move to binge viewing.
Reuters also points out that Silicon Valley has long maintained a rigid divide between its elitist class employees and those whose jobs do not require special education or training. The divide has deprived the latter class of employees of all the benefits that their educated counterparts get, causing them to struggle to make ends meet.
The wage/leave disparity is not just limited to Silicon Valley. As per the International Labor Organization, the U.S is the “only developed nation in the world that doesn't ensure any paid time off for new moms.” The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 only offers 12 weeks unpaid leave to salaried employees who have been with the company for more than a year.
Such a regressive act has faced severe criticism as people are more and more aware of equality and work-life balance. Moreover, research has proven that “parent-child bonding benefits all.” Maternity/ paternity leave policy has been in the limelight for quite some time now as organizations are trying to strengthen their image as companies with the right work-family balance, allowing them to improve employee retention and attract new talent.
Recently, Facebook Inc FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg who announced that he was taking a two-month paternity leave after the birth of his daughter Max gave the cause a much needed boost. Following Zuckerberg’s announcement, the social media service extended the same privilege to its entire global workforce. Employees will be able to take four months of paid leave to bond with their newborn. The leave can be taken any time after the birth of the child to up to a period of one year. In addition, the social media giant is already giving a bonus of $4,000 for parents of new babies.
In the past few months, other key players in the tech space that have updated their parental policies include Microsoft MSFT, Apple AAPL and Spotify among others. In fact, Apple under CEO Tim Cook has been aggressively advocating inclusion & diversity.
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