As part of our ongoing coverage of paid leave, we’re rounding up the most important news from the week. Here’s what you need to know about paid leave, working parents, and child care in the United States and abroad.
Over a quarter of new moms go back to work two weeks after giving birth. And 12 percent took only a week off, according to a report from In These Times. Forget unlimited leave or other Silicon Valley perks—this is what America's terrible parental leave policies actually mean for working-class women.
What’s next for Silicon Valley’s benefits arms race? Now that the latest trend in tech is increased parental leave, some are hoping that companies that offer on-site dry cleaning will add on-site daycare too.
No paternity leave for Amazon workers. After this week's New York Times expose of Amazon's brutal workplace culture sparked criticism, the company released its parental leave policy: 12 weeks paid time off for new mothers, but male employees are out of luck.
Request maternity leave and you might get fired—if you're an independent contractor. Uber isn't the only company misclassifying employees. The Washington Post spoke to a woman who worked for 40 hours a week for a DC government agency as an independent contractor with no benefits; when she got pregnant and complained, she lost her job.
A Seattle tech start-up wants to help workers navigate their employers’ parental leave. Founded by a mother of two, LeaveLogic will make it easier for employees to plan for the future without awkward conversations with HR reps.
When it comes to maternity leave, the U.S. Armed Forces are ahead of the rest of the country. The Navy has tripled its maternity leave to 18 weeks, but military culture may still be playing catch-up. Says one Navy vet who founded an organization called Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: “My coworkers think I’m a slacker.”