Adding parental leave as a perk in your benefits package can be wise.
Regardless of how significant or small their company is, business owners or senior leaders must prioritize their employees. That includes parental leave. Adding parental leave as a perk in your benefits package can be wise. It’s a great way to improve your business reputation and boost your team’s goodwill.
Is Your Company Required to Offer Parental Leave?
Two main factors affect the answer to this question: the size of your business and its location. Additionally, the matter of maternity and paternity leave depends on the category of labor law. For instance, the FMLA, or Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, maintains the basic criteria for the employee types who qualify. Those individuals who are eligible are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave within a year.
Furthermore, the Department of Labor construes that the law covers all public and private elementary and secondary schools, public agencies, and businesses with 50+ employees. Meanwhile, individual states will govern their own rules, guidelines, and regulations.
What are the Costs Associated with Family Leave?
Suppose that you plan to offer parental leave to your employees. What does this mean for your agency? After all, you are not required to do so. That said, it can increase morale across the board. In particular, happier employees will perform better and be more motivated to be at the top of their game.
Otherwise, productivity can be lost when an employee goes on medical leave, which signifies that having a policy in place is a minor trade-off. Other associated costs may include employing an intern or temp worker to cover the employee’s workload and endlessly paying for their benefits while the employee is on hiatus.
Bottomline
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that parental leave benefits are in demand. In short, you have options:
- No parental leave at all
- Obtain paid leave
- Get unpaid leave
- Have a combination of paid and unpaid leave
Ultimately, financial considerations and business culture will determine the best course of action. It would help to ask your team how they feel about their current compensation packages and work from there.
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Are you a business looking to provide your employees with essential voluntary benefits? If so, look no further than The MWE Partnership. When you choose The MWE Partnership, you get experienced service and comprehensive voluntary benefit options that will meet all your employees’ needs. With over 17 years of experience, The MWE Partnership is your go-to provider for all your supplemental benefit needs. If you are interested in finding out how The MWE Partnership can help your business, contact us today! We encourage you to like our Facebook page and follow us on X and LinkedIn for the latest voluntary benefit news!