Ikea Expanding U.S. Employees’ Paid Parental Leave
Ikea’s U.S. division will begin offering longer parental leave to all employees who are new parents starting in the New Year. The furniture retailer announced this week that it will offer 13,000 salaried and hourly employees in the U.S. up to four months of paid parental leave. The policy applies to mothers and fathers who are birth, adoptive or foster parents. Previously, Ikea had given women giving birth five days of paid leave in addition to six weeks to eight weeks of paid disability leave.
Total Retail’s Take: This is a great way to make sure the company is able to keep good talent in an improving job market. With unemployment at a nine-year low, many companies are trying to retain workers. Other companies, like Netflix and Microsoft, already have initiatives like this in place. The U.S. trails most other nations in maternity and paternity leave standards — after short-term disability leave, paid leave is sparse. Federal law requires only unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. In addition to the parental leave, Ikea is offering an unpaid sabbatical for all employees, based on tenure, for up to a year.
