Should you offer maternity leave to both males and females?

Becoming ever more popular is the idea that maternity leave needs to be available to both moms and dads.Leave for males in cases of pregnancy is referred to as "paternity" or parental leave. This type of leave is an employee benefit that provides paid or unpaid time off to care for a child. Most companies will provide some type of maternity leave for mothers, but finding paternity leave in companies is rare.

The United States is one of the few countries that does not provide any national form of paid parental leave. In Sweden, all working parents are entitled to 16 months of paid leave per child with a minimum of 2 months required to be spent by the "minority" parent. In 2000, Canada expanded their leave from 10 weeks to 35 weeks divided however the parents' desired. This is in addition to 15 weeks maternity leave. The most generous system is found in Lithuania. Mothers are provided 8 weeks of 100% paid leave prior to child birth and 100% paid leave in the first year. In the second year they receive 85% paid leave and a third year unpaid. Either the mother or the father can take leave or they can alternate. Fathers specifically are provided with one month of paternal leave immediately after the child's birth.

The United States provides through the Family and Medical Leave Act a maximum of 12 weeks unpaid job-protected leave. This leave can be taken by mother or father and includes situations such as pregnancy, adoption, family medical emergencies, and personal illness. Those companies that do provide some form of parental leave have seen positive benefits to the company. If you look at the situation, either mother or father is preoccupied days even weeks prior to the birth of the child, making productivity decrease. Then after the child is born that preoccupation continues for days or weeks as life adjustments are made. Employees with a child on the way or just barely arrived are less likely to take on additional projects and tasks or work overtime for other situations or employees. Just after a newborn arrives parents are likely to be sleep deprived, causing a decrease in productivity as well. By providing parental leave to parents you help reduce costs from inefficiencies or errors caused and provide and promote employee job satisfaction, loyalty, and long term productivity.

In addition direct job applications, providing paid family leave has been found in studies to reduce infant mortalities by as much as 20%, helps families combat against spells of poverty associated with new children. It provides children with a healthy start and an opportunity for both moms and dads to bond with their newborn child. 72% or women and 63% of men believe they should spend more than 2 weeks with their newborn child after birth, however, few companies offer such benefits and if they do many males don't take advantage of it for fear of retribution in the workplace.

Some companies have recognized the forward thinking ideas of allowing fathers and mothers take time off to start their newborn child's life of right. The following 10 companies are considered the top in the country for exemplifying best practices when it comes to paternity leave. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bronson Healthcare Group, Inc., Covington and Burling LLP, Eli Lilly and Company, IBM Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, The McGraw-Hill Companies, McKinsey and Company, Pfizer Inc., University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Dads at these Top 10 companies in paternity leave thrive in company cultures that make them feel comfortable taking an average of 17 weeks of time off following the birth of a child, compared with 4 weeks at other top companies.