Parental Leave- Do Companies Really Suffer From This Benefit

When a woman has a baby, generally they will take anywhere from 6 weeks to 12 weeks of maternity leave.  And recently, the fathers have also been given that benefit, for at least 2-3 weeks.  But here is the thing... it's generally unpaid.  So, unless you have vacation time saved up (which most people do), you won't get any money during that time.  Your job is secure because you have to be given that time... but would it really hurt the company if they gave you that time off with pay?  Like a paid leave of absence?

Experts say no... it really doesn't hurt the company at all to do that for their employees.  This should be a benefit offered to employees.

There’s “no measurable effect” on the profits, viability and long-term survival of companies where workers take paid time off to be with their newborn child, a new study suggests.

“Overall, we find little support for the claim that parental leave is detrimental for coworkers or firms,” economists wrote in a working paper released Monday that looked at companies in Denmark, a country that’s long had policies mandating time off for new parents.

Obviously, this is going to depend on the size of the company, your position in the company and where profit margins are at... but over all, this seems like a no-brainer.  And even if it were at least paid like half or 3/4 of it.. that would help quite a bit.

Maybe things will change soon for this benefit.  It would really help boost moral and help with an end result with less stress.  Like at least one less thing that a person would have to worry about.