Netflix offers new parents ‘unlimited’ leave

Netflix said Tuesday it will allow new parents up to a year of paid time off, becoming one of the tech industry’s most generous major companies in offering parental leave.

The video streaming company hopes its flexible policy will help retain employees, Netflix Chief Talent Officer Tawni Cranz wrote in a blog post.

“Netflix’s continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most talented individuals in their field,” he said.

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The policy will apply to mothers and fathers of newborns as well as adoptees. Employees can set their own schedules in the year after bringing babies into their families and their pay will continue as usual.

Other tech companies have also enhanced parental leave policies in recent years, although mostly for mothers, according to a recent survey by The Atlantic. Google offers biological mothers up to 22 months of paid leave, and Apple, 18 months. Facebook offers four months to both mothers and fathers.

Apple and Facebook signaled their determination to keep women at their companies last year by giving women tens of thousands of dollars to freeze their eggs and delay having children.

Brigid Schulte, author of “Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time,” said that competition for talent within tech is pushing widespread change.

“We’re finally, slowly, getting used to the idea of mothers in the workplace,” she said. “Employers can no longer ignore family issues, or continue to denigrate them as ‘Mommy issues.’”

Twitter: @dainabethcita

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