Paternity Leave and Extended Maternity Leave for Its Employees
by MICHAEL SEBASTIAN
Amazon
is expanding its maternity leave and introducing paid leave for dads for the
first time, according to the the Seattle
Times. Washington
Meanwhile,
Amazon is also planning to open its first physical bookstore. The
store, which will be called Amazon Books, is set to open in Seattle
Amazon
is expanding its maternity leave and introducing paid leave for dads for the
first time, according to the the Seattle
Times.
The
new policy on paid leave will give birth mothers who've worked at Amazon
for at least a year up to 20 weeks of paid leave, the Seattle Times reported. Parents of either gender,
whether birth parents or adoptive parents, will be eligible for up to six weeks
of paid leave. Amazon was offering eight weeks of paid maternity
leave and no paternity leave, according to The
New YorkTimes.
Amazon,
which faced scrutiny for its grueling workplace culture and was the subject of
a recent New York Times expose, also introduced a
"flexible return-to-work program" and "an ability to share leave
with a spouse who does not work for the retailer," the Times said.
The
announcement follows other big tech companies like Microsoft and Netflix, both
of which expanded their paid leave this year. Netflix, in fact, is now offering new parents up to one full-year of paid
leave. But there's also an unspoken tension over whether the work
environments at these large companies allow for parents to take off so much
time without feeling they're hurting their careers or letting down their
co-workers.
Wired magazine points out magazine
points out that Amazon
announced the expanded leave at an opportune time — just as
it's looking to motivate employees during the holiday rush and blunt criticism
from the Times piece. It also comes as the topic of
paid leave takes on greater importance in Washington
Meanwhile,
Amazon is also planning to open its first physical bookstore. The
store, which will be called Amazon Books, is set to open in Seattle
