Amazon expands parental leave plan
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Amazon employees have an updated parental leave plan that gives parents more time off.
Amazon announced Monday a new set of parental benefits that begins in 2016.
The benefits include:
- Up to 20 weeks fully paid leave for new moms
- Up to 6 weeks full paid leave for new dads
- New flexible schedule to ease new moms back to work
Before, new moms were only offered eight weeks of fully paid leave and dads were not able to take time off following the birth (or adoption) of a child.
The new leave applies for full-time salaried and hourly workers, including those in the central Indiana fulfillment centers.
The changes comes after a New York Times article in August accused the online retailer of offering poor work-life balance to employees. Following the Times investigation, former Amazon employee Julia Cheiffetz publicly called for the company to reevaluate its parental leave policies. She claimed she was let go following her maternity leave and cancer diagnosis.
Other big tech companies such as Microsoft, Adobe and Netflix recently expanded their paid maternity leave up to 20 weeks for birth moms and added six weeks of paid leave for new parents.
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