After parents realized the advantages of being able to stay home with their children and enjoy more flexible schedules, companies have discovered that parents are focusing more priority on spending time with their children in the first phase of their lives.
Expectations are high. There are a few problems, however: not all countries require paid parental leave, and not all parental leave covers all parents. In fact, many parents are excluded entirely from traditional maternity and paternity leave policies.
To create this sort of policy, your organization must commit to going beyond the minimum statutory requirements when it comes to family leave — especially in places where no minimum exists.
This guide will help you set up and manage a policy that allows you to afford your team this opportunity, helping you attract and retain top performers in the process.
While you can simply offer the minimum statutory leave when designing your family leave policy, that doesn’t mean you should.
To attract top talent, your parental leave policy needs to be competitive, inclusive, equitable, and compassionate.
Employees who are planning to build families are looking for leave that will allow them to do so without sacrificing career advancement, opportunities, or pay.
Employees actively look at benefits packages when considering jobs. According to Remote’s Global Benefits Report, 60% of employees say they have chosen one job over another because it offered a better benefits package, while 35% of global employees turned down or left a job due to concerns about benefits.
of people aged 25-34 would decline a job offer if the parental leave benefits were insufficient.
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Strengthening a parental leave policy or adding benefits may be expensive. Leadership may have concerns about budget. However, Remote’s research shows that 78% of decision makers have seen greater employee retention after improving their benefits package.
Considering that the cost of recruiting a new employee is estimated to be three to four times the new hire’s salary, an improved benefits package can save money in the long run (and attract top talent).
Another reason to create a generous family policy for your global team is to address the wide disparity in parental leave worldwide. Building an equitable benefits package is essential if you hire in more than one place.
When you’re building a global team, it’s critical to make sure your parental policy is inclusive. It doesn’t matter where your team members are based or what their family situation is: your policy needs to provide an equitable experience for all.
While many nations require parental leave, not all statutory family leave is created equal. Parental leave in different countries varies greatly.
Bulgaria offers 410 paid days of paid maternal leave, with mothers receiving 90% of their salary during leave. While it’s a generous leave for mothers, paternal leave is limited to just 15 days after childbirth, although fathers may share the mother’s leave once the child is six months old.
Sweden also offers generous leave, although it’s more inclusive: 240 days of leave for each parent, who receive 80% of their regular wages during leave. Single parents receive the full 480 days of leave a couple would receive. In the case of multiple births, 180 more days of leave are granted for each additional child.
In the UK, eligible employees (who must have a contract and have provided notice correctly) can take 52 weeks of maternity leave, 39 weeks of which they are eligible for maternity pay. Paid paternity leave is limited to a maximum of 2 weeks. The UK also offers unpaid parental leave: parents are entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child until the child turns 18, although they are limited to taking 4 weeks per child per year.
The U.S. requires certain employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave every year to cover a variety of scenarios, including the birth of a child. However, the requirements only apply to eligible employees: those who have worked for the company at least a year and those who have worked 1,250 hours in the year before taking leave. Some cities and states have stepped in, with statutory paid parental leave laws of their own, making U.S. family leave more complex.
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Like Estonia, which offers 82 weeks for a child’s main caregiver, be they birth, adoptive, or foster parents, or Japan, which offers a year of leave for both parents.
It’s best, however, not to rely on any individual country’s legislation when developing your own parental leave policies. Instead, creating your own globally equitable and inclusive policies are a critical step toward making all potential and current employees feel supported.
Understanding parental leave policies around the world can be difficult
Remote conducted research on 11 different countries to provide an in-depth look at where the laws differ. See our Inclusive Parental Leave Policies Research for yourself!
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As you read this, you may be thinking “but my workplace already offers a maternity leave policy.” Sadly, most maternity leave policies fall short.
Maternity leave was first proposed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1919 to give working mothers time off to have and care for their babies. Although it’s been revised several times since, it was originally designed to protect mothers who were giving birth.
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It’s been more than a century since the original family leave standard was created. We now recognize there are many kinds of parents and caregivers, and maternity leave simply doesn’t cover all of them. Fathers need time off to bond with children, as do adoptive parents, foster parents, stepparents, and other caregivers.
Take the example of Gary Ackerman, a teacher in New York City who became a father in 1969. Ackerman wanted to take advantage of the parental leave policies extended to his female colleagues and was turned down repeatedly.
The leave, provided without pay at the time, was intended only for female teachers. Men were expected to work as usual. The Ackermans sued, with Ackerman’s wife Rita filing a complaint that a women-only parental leave policy not only keeps men from their children, but also forces women to be caregivers and housekeepers. The Ackerman family won their case, but it only changed the NYC Board of Education’s policies. It would be decades before paternity leave became commonplace.
21% of women and 16% of men who have taken parental leave say doing so held them back from progressing in their careers.
However, maternity and paternity leave is still not enough. A truly inclusive family leave policy must be broader.
of employees think their company should do more to make their parental leave policy more inclusive.
In a world in which we always strive to be more inclusive, being intentional about including all genders, parental leave covers all aspects of becoming a parent, without referencing a specific gender. It also implies that any parent with a child under the age of one can take parental leave, without making assumptions of who will be taking care of the child. The flexibility and choice matters most to employees.
Remote’s director of people enablement | Amanda Day
Just as it’s not enough to offer maternity leave, it’s also not enough to offer both maternity and paternity leave. It’s important to offer parental leave instead, for several reasons.
For one thing, using the words “maternity” and “paternity” excludes parents who are outside the gender binary, as well as parents who may not identify as a traditional father or mother. This is critical, as parents who fall outside these definitions may not always be entitled to legal protections or government-provided leave.
Foster parents and step parents, for example, may feel that maternity and paternity leave policies might not apply to them.
This can leave a significant number of parents feeling isolated and unsupported by their workplace. An inclusive policy that considers employees in this situation could be critical in attracting and retaining elite performers seeking a more inclusive program.
“Maternity” and “paternity” leave also come along with a predetermined idea of what those sorts of leave should be used for birth and the early months of a child’s life, for example. Parental leave can and should be used for many different situations:
When a same-sex couple is expecting a child, parental leave doesn’t force the couple to choose which one will claim maternity leave and who will claim paternity leave, which may be a problem for some parents. Nor does the couple need to worry about being forced to fight for maternity leave. Paid paternity leave has traditionally been rarer and more limited than paid maternity leave, so this can be harmful for two-father, trans, or non-binary families, who may have to use other types of leave to welcome and bond with a child.
Although some maternity/paternity policies cover adoption, not all do. Parental leave can be used for adoption procedures, which are time consuming, and the process of getting an adoptive child settled into the home.
When an employee fosters a child, the parents need time to get to know the child and properly settle them into the family. Parental leave allows a family to do this without sacrificing income.
Many parental leave policies may not include stepparents, who are also a vital part of a child’s life. An equitable parental leave policy allows stepparents to take the time they need to bond with a child.
Shared parental leave allows two parents to share a pot of leave. One parent may give up a certain amount of leave so that the other parent can use that leave instead. This allows the parents more flexibility in how they use their leave.
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Between 10-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. The chances are high that someone you know or work with has suffered a miscarriage, yet pregnancy loss is often a silent grief experienced by so many parents.
Most miscarriage occurs in the first months and weeks of pregnancy, before parents have shared their pregnancy with anyone outside their family.
A 2019 UK study found that 1 in 3 parents who experienced pregnancy loss developed post-traumatic stress from the experience. In an organization that has a clear DEI policy and is committed to inclusion, these values must be reflected in your family leave policies. This is a big draw for top global talent, as many talented professionals are seeking roles with these types of provisions and inclusive workplace cultures. d post-traumatic stress, while others developed anxiety and depression. While those symptoms improved over time, they were still at high levels nine months after the loss.
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Offering bereavement leave covering miscarriage and other pregnancy-related trauma, such as failed fertility treatments or ectopic pregnancies, is a profound way to care for employees who traditionally may feel expected to work through the trauma of pregnancy loss. This demonstrates genuine care for team members who have concerns about fertility issues or the danger of miscarriage.
This sort of leave goes beyond bereavement. It’s also important to the health and wellbeing of an employee, both physical and mental. After a miscarriage, a person may still experience physical symptoms for days. They may also need to see a doctor. Emotionally and mentally, the employee may simply not be able to work. For these reasons, it may be important to connect pregnancy loss leave with mental health care support.
are hesitant to take their full parental leave due to stigma.
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Conversations about miscarriages are not socially common, let alone in the workplace, so making team members aware of the policy or ensuring that team members feel comfortable taking leave may be a challenge. There are three specific things employers can do to make things easier:
Create easily accessible documentation around your policies, so that employees can discreetly reference them and know what they need to do to access the policies and support.
Miscarriage may be thought of as something that impacts the person who is pregnant, but it also impacts their partner.
It’s important that managers know how to talk about pregnancy loss appropriately. Support managers by teaching them how they can handle these situations with discretion, either by offering training, or providing documentation they can consult when a situation arises.
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Reproductive rights are controversial worldwide, with only 75 countries allowing access to abortion by request. In other countries, abortion may be allowed to save the life of a mother, for health reasons or for other considerations. In 24 countries, abortion is banned entirely.
With a global team, it’s important to be aware of these differences when putting together a reproductive rights policy. At Remote, we believe it’s important to support people in making the healthcare decisions that are right for themselves and their bodies. For that reason, we’ve put together documentation that helps our employees understand our policy and how to access funds if needed.
Funds are an important part of a reproductive health policy, because this policy goes beyond time off. We offer $2,000 to employees or their partners who live in areas that do not provide safe and legal abortions, so those employees can pay for transportation, lodging, or medical costs. This disbursement is swift and confidential, and we do not collect or keep data on it.
The decision to end a pregnancy is not always an easy one and may well impact a team member’s mental health. It’s important that your reproductive health policy connects with your organization’s mental health resources.
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Caring for a family is a time-consuming task and can be especially challenging for parents of young children who work from home. For parents who are trying to work and parent at the same time, it can seem like they need to choose: to be a good parent, or a good employee.
Offering flexible or even part-time working hours for parents can be a way to help your team work during the hours most productive for them. Having an employee go part time after having a child may give some employers pause. You are getting less work from your employees, after all. However, flexible and part-time work hours may be a benefit to you as well as your team members, especially when it comes to asynchronous work. Flexible working hours to allow parents to maintain life-work balance, letting them prioritize their family while still delivering their best work.
Flexibility may be the most desired, most impactful policy a company can offer. For parents, flexibility is essential because it allows them to be responsive to the needs of their families while managing their responsibilities at work.
Remote’s Senior Expert of Global Benefits Design and Strategy | Joana Viana
Rather than forcing tired parents to work synchronously while attempting to care for children, giving them flexibility and autonomy when it comes to their schedule demonstrates your trust in them and will likely be reciprocated with sustained productivity in return.
Some countries already have legislation in place that makes it mandatory to allow part time work if both parents are employed, so offering flexible work options will not only help to strengthen the psychological contract your employees have with the company, but also help you simplify compliance.
An inclusive parental leave policy should encompass all kinds of parents: birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, and stepparents. An inclusive parental leave policy should also include all gender identities, sexual orientations, and family structures. If a team member is a parent, your leave policy should apply to them.
Using inclusive language in a parental leave policy can make all team members feel supported, valued, and empowered to do what’s best for their families. This means using gender-neutral terminology (“parent” instead of “mother” or “father”), avoiding designating parents as primary or secondary caregivers, and using clear, universal language so that everyone on your team understands your policy.
An inclusive policy should also help change perceptions around gender roles. For example, it’s important to encourage men to take their parental leave, accept bereavement time for pregnancy loss, and not refer to women as primary caregivers.
While an inclusive policy ensures that all employees feel valued, an equitable one ensures that every team member has equal access to the same benefits.
Equitable parental leave includes:
The same benefits, resources, and opportunity for all team members, no matter their gender or family structure
Equitable benefits no matter where your employees live or what statutory leave their country requires
Creating an equitable parental leave policy requires thoughtful planning. Top talent is looking for a benefits offering that helps them take the time they need to build and raise their family, so it’s important to ensure that while your organization is meeting the minimum requirements of all your team members’ countries, you’re also offering everyone an equitable experience when they use their benefits.
No one wants to feel their family is being denied benefits that other employees are getting. An inclusive and equitable parental leave policy is critical to making every team member feel valued and supported by your organization.
An equitable family leave policy also takes a stand by refusing to reinforce stereotypes, ingrained gender roles, cultural omissions, or other conventions that box people into specific roles within a family. By using inclusive language and enforcing equity, you help every family to decide how to care for their families in the way that works best for them.
Welcoming a new child is a time for celebration. New parents want to take the time they are entitled to without feeling like they can’t for fear of being judged. Creating a culture that welcomes parents and encourages them to take leave is critical.
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For example, one company offers a $2,000 stipend to pregnant people to help them afford maternity clothing. For other parents, knowing that flexible work hours are available after they welcome their new child is the most important benefit.
Remote’s benefits research discovered flexibility is the most in-demand benefit for most workers, but especially for parents. If you aren’t offering flexible work arrangements like async work, remote work, and location independence (i.e., allowing employees to work from where they choose), some top workers may look elsewhere for more flexible employment.
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We mentioned earlier in this article that Japan offers a year of paid parental leave for both parents, but studies show that only 13% of men in Japan actually use their leave. This issue is not unique to Japanese dads. According to reports from around the world, men tend not to take advantage of leave. One survey found that men in Australia are reluctant to take leave because to do so would damage their families financially. The second most-cited reason for not taking leave was that Australian men felt they’d be seen as less committed at work.
A BBC report found that non-birthing parents worldwide tend not to take the leave they’re allotted. Some of this is because men have internalized gender stereotypes about being breadwinners and not nurturers. Some of this is because parents of all genders worry about how they will be perceived if they take the leave they are given.
Don’t stop at creating policies. Create workflows and structures to ease parents into and out of periods of leave. That way, they can leave and return to work without massive periods of stress. It’s also important for managers and leaders to model the behavior and use their own leave. Otherwise, employees will see the difference between policy and reality and act accordingly.
Remote’s Senior Expert of Global Benefits Design and Strategy | Joana Viana
All parents still face perceived pressure to get back to work. A 2021 study found that 50% of mothers who responded said taking maternity leave harmed their careers. They experienced microaggressions in the workplace and endured negative comments and assumptions about taking additional time off.
For these reasons, it’s critical that team leaders are openly supportive of parental leave and encourage their team members to take the time to which they are entitled.
Workers tend to judge themselves more harshly than their peers or management does. They may worry that taking time off makes them seem less serious about their job, or as if they have one foot out the door. However, parental leave is in place for a reason: it’s important for both the physical and mental wellbeing of a team member. If they aren’t taking the leave they need, it can have a negative impact on their work.
To overcome any reluctance on the part of team members who worry about leave, leaders should become champions for family leave policies, encouraging employees to utilize parental leave benefits to overcome any perceived judgment.
of workers in sales, media, and marketing do not know how much parental leave their employers offer.
Being proactive and open with communication about leave policies so that everyone on the team knows what benefits are available and how to access them.
Reinforcing the importance of taking parental leave and communicating the understanding that family comes first.
Promoting a healthy life-work balance, which is essential to keeping your team engaged, motivated, and productive.
Reiterating that taking parental leave will not impact future career progression opportunities for employees.
Establishing a specific return-to-work plan with the employee and a structured career progression plan to give extra assurance.
Creating structures within performance reviews to ensure that taking parental leave does not inhibit an employee’s growth potential at the company.
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Parents want to feel encouraged, empowered, and supported before, during, and after the entire period of their parental leave. That means you need to consider their experience at each of these three phases.
Often, HR teams focus effort on supporting employees for specific periods just before and just after leave. However, many parents will embrace the opportunity to be engaged and feel connected to their role and team for the duration of their leave.
Explicitly giving parents the option to stay engaged with team social activities during their parental leave allows the individual to choose what they would prefer. Employers should always strive to encourage parents to disconnect and enjoy their time off, but flexibility in this aspect helps some new parents who might like to be connected to their social group at work. Sometimes the opportunity to speak with other adults during their leave is a hugely underestimated benefit!
The transition time from leave back to work can be challenging, so support at this stage should be part of the policy and well documented. Birthing parents coming back to the workplace often feel they are placing a burden on others that need to bring them up to speed. Consider allocating a return-to-work buddy that acts in the same way as an onboarding buddy would for a new starter, helping the new parent ramp up and adjust to any changes.
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Setting up and administering a global parental leave policy can be difficult for remote companies with workforce scattered across the globe. Different countries have different requirements, and managing compliance can become complicated fast.
For example, while the United States may not mandate paid parental leave, parents still receive protections in the country under a law called FMLA. During the FMLA period, employees receive greater protections than they would during normal periods of work. Even in “at-will employment” states, employees on FMLA leave are typically protected against terminations.
For this reason, we recommend that global employers start by adopting a global policy of equity for all employees, no matter where they are based. Once you’ve established your company’s commitment to equity, you can be flexible in the execution of that equity in multiple places. The goal is to create an equal experience for everyone in your workforce in a similar situation, not to solve all the world’s problems of leave yourself.
This is where an Employer of Record (EOR) can help. An EOR (like Remote) is a company that helps you employ workers in other countries by acting as the local employer on your behalf. EORs are experts in the laws and regulation of the country in which they operate and handle benefits management, as well as things like payroll and tax compliance. This helps you by taking the burden of having to understand employment law in every country where you employ remote workers.
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It may seem complicated, but an inclusive and equitable parental leave policy can be easy to set up and administer. You do not have to become an expert in global HR yourself, nor do you need to hire lawyers in every country where you operate just to hire a local employee. With an EOR like Remote, you can access talent all over the world and offer all the benefits they need.
If you need more help to design your benefits package, this helpful guide will give you a step-by-step primer on creating a global benefits program for your team.
Remember
Parental leave is just one part of a benefits program that needs to comply with all statutory requirements of each country’s legislation. Remote’s team of global benefits experts and local HR specialists can advise employers on each market’s expectations to create a globally equitable, locally competitive package for your workforce. Our benefits team can even help put together a global benefits package for your organization.
Proving an inclusive and equitable parental leave policy is a great step toward creating a comprehensive benefits package to attract and keep the best global talent. It’s also a way to level the playing field for parents who don’t live in areas where parental leave is required by law. A generous parental leave policy is a clear message that family comes first — and that your workplace supports the life-work balance of your team members. Send that message, and talented parents and parents-to-be around the world will be lining up to work for your forward-thinking business.
But it can seem daunting to provide equitable leave worldwide. That’s why partnering with global employment solutions like Remote is so important.
We handle the complexities of running your global HR operations, while our software keeps management simple, so your team can focus on designing your global strategy.
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