Netflix wants new moms and dads to take time off. In fact, it now says they can take as much time as they want.
The video streaming giant announced a new policy today that offers unlimited maternity and paternity leave to employees for the first year after a child’s birth or adoption.
“We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances,” Netflix’s chief talent officer Tawni Cranz explains in a statement. “Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed. We’ll just keep paying them normally, eliminating the headache of switching to state or disability pay.”
The new policy is consistent with Netflix’s larger mandate that employees should be free to figure out their own work-life balance as responsible and accountable adults. The company already offers unlimited time off to all employees; now it's explicitly adding unlimited maternity and paternity leave.
Unlimited leave, however, can come with its own complications. Without a clear policy, employees may feel they need to take less time off in order to work the same hours as their colleagues or to appeal to their managers. Others might opt not to take any at all.
At the same time, US law only requires that eligible new parents who have been at a company for a certain time be provided 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Compared to companies that offer limited time off to new mothers or no paid paternity leave at all to new fathers, Netflix’s policy seems to show a commitment to treating their employees equally and fairly.
