
(1) Marisa Mayer
Another tech boss, Marissa Mayer of Yahoo!, was widely criticised earlier in November when she revealed that she would be taking just a fortnight maternity leave. She even added that she’ll be “working throughout” the time that she gives birth to twins later in 2015. Her announcement was “disappointing”, according to Anne Weisberg, senior vice-president of the Families and Work Institute in New York. Mayer took the same amount of time off when she had her first child in September 2012. In fact, other Yahoo staff are entitled to four months paid maternity leave, after the company recently doubled the time period.(2) Sweden
- The top ten UK employers for work-life balance
- How does the UK truly feel about men and women sharing parental leave and childcare?
- Five famous female leaders on balancing work and time spent with family
(3) Virgin
This summer Richard Branson announced that new fathers at the company will be given up to a year’s paternity leave on full salary. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it is. It is only those who have been at Virgin for four years or more who will receive 100 per cent of their pay, with newer members receiving an amount related to their length of service. Secondly, it only applies to employees of Virgin Management, in other words about 140 people.(4) Far East
Korea and Japan have some of the most generous paternity leave with 52.6 and 52 weeks respectively, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).(5) Stingy countries
According to the ILO, out of 185 countries and territories surveyed, just two don’t provide maternity leave with a legal requirement for cash benefits of some kind. One is Papua New Guinea – and the other? The US. That’s right – one of the most developed countries in the world with the largest economy and a proud history of human rights has one of the least generous maternity arrangements. For fathers, although countries such as Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia give no time off at all, high on the mean list is Tunisia, where you’ll get just one day off on full pay. Just time to learn how to change a nappy.Streaming giant Netflix joins other firms in offering staff unlimited parental leave
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