Last year, President Obama approved an executive order that allowed federal employees to take a period of six weeks as a paid leave to take care of their new born children and also recommended all the cities and states to follow in with the order.
Paid parental leave programs expanding:
This expansion in the paid parental leave programs is gaining momentum over the past few months. New York has most recently joined the group of cities that are moving to grant this 6 day paid leave. The other cities that took the step before NYC were Kansas City, Austin, Texas among others. There have been starkly similar programs adopted by other cities as well and it’s expected that this expansion is not going to hit any obstacle.
Recently M&T bank became the newest addition to the list of enterprises that allow this paid leave program. It employs over 2500 people and now offers 12 weeks of paid leave to all the parents that need time to look after their children.
While there are positive signs, there are some alarming negative indicators as well. Some companies and some states as a whole aren’t eager to adopt these programs but it’s expected that they too will join in within a few months’ time. Here’s hoping that happens.
