Music streaming giant Spotify has just announced a new global parental leave policy that is reasonable, necessary, and makes Amazon’s recent foray into more family-friendly leave policies look like the half-baked publicity fart it almost definitely was.
According to the company’s press release:
Effective immediately:
All full-time Spotify employees will be offered up to six months’ parental leave with 100% pay.
Parents will be able to take their leave up to the child’s third birthday, with all Spotify employees who had children from the beginning of 2013 also eligible for the benefit.
Mothers and fathers are encouraged to take the full time off, with the added flexibility of splitting their leave into separate periods.
We also know that following a period of parental leave, the transition back to work can be tricky. So we’re including a one month ‘Welcome Back!’ programme, allowing returning team members to ease back into their job with the ability to work from home, on a part time schedule and with flexible hours.
The announcement linked to a slightly more in-depth PDF on the company’s updated policy, in which chief human resources officer Katarina Berg is quoted as saying:
“Our Swedish inspired culture proves that we do have an environment where a rich time off policy can be successful. This is what differentiates Spotify from other companies, and why we believe employees all around the world will be comfortable (and expected) to take their full parental leave time with the support of their peers, managers and leaders.”
The company made the announcement Thursday in its New York offices with White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, underlining the Obama administration’s push for states to support updated paid leave policies. “We really want to have a culture in our country were you can be a working parent and be productive at work,” Jarrett said.