Many employers have added paid family leave policies to their benefits packages as a way of staying competitive in the hiring market and attracting new candidates. This has become increasingly common among the highest-ranked US employers. Offering some form of paid family leave can make your firm more attractive to potential top-tier candidates. Additionally, paid leave policies can increase employee retention. Studies have shown that when paid maternity leave is given, women are more likely to return to their positions after giving birth. Regardless of whether you decide to offer paid leave to your team, you should still have a plan in place regarding what to do when one of your employees requests to take family leave.
Does your firm offer paid maternity or paternity leave?
Families come in all shapes and sizes now so many employers have opted to use the broader term, “parental leave” to cover any paid family leave they offer. If you decide to offer a paid parental leave package, you will need to clearly address the parameters of this benefit and ensure that you are offering it equitably to all employees.
Be familiar with FMLA!
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 is a federal policy that allows some workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave due to certain familial situations. However, depending on the state you are in, there may be even more restrictive state laws that could apply to your firm. For example, there are currently 10 US states that do mandate some amount of paid parental leave for certain employees. So, in addition to being familiar with FMLA, don’t forget to check your state laws to ensure compliance.
We highly recommend that you seek legal guidance regarding these policies to ensure your firm is in compliance. Designate one person in your firm to serve as the point person for FMLA. If you have an HR manager, they are a natural choice for this responsibility. However, if you don’t have a team member who is responsible for HR at your firm, you should still designate one person to be your FMLA expert. Laws are ever-changing, and it will be easier for your firm to stay compliant when one person is tasked with this responsibility. If you leave this task up to individual supervisors, you are asking for confusion and errors. While individual supervisors can work with your FMLA expert to handle issues such as work coverage, it’s still important to have a primary point person who has been handed the responsibility of ensuring your firm is in compliance with FMLA. Your FMLA expert should also be familiar with any short and/or long-term disability plans your firm offers. They should be prepared to educate team members on how those plans can work with their FMLA or parental leave requests.
Whether or not you decide to offer paid leave depends on your business model and your local laws. However, when one of your team members requests to take leave under your policy, a state guideline, or under FMLA, you will need to have a plan in place so that you, your employees, and your firm are prepared to accommodate the needed time in a fair and consistent manner.
When team members do take extended time off for maternity or paternity leave, or for medical reasons, it’s critical, as employers, to approach these instances thoughtfully, intentionally, and carefully.
Here are some important considerations:
Keeping these best practices in mind can ensure that you will not only be compliant with applicable laws but also be prepared to handle the inevitable requests for leave. It is important to remember that your team members need to integrate their work and personal lives. If you work as a team with them to handle any needed work absences you can not only increase team member loyalty, but you can ensure that your firm will continue to operate efficiently during family leave absences.