Twitter joins the ranks of companies enacting generous paid parental leave policies

“It’s terrific that Twitter is implementing an expansive, gender-neutral paid parental leave policy to its employees. Like many companies, Twitter until now has offered much less time to fathers or adoptive parents. Providing 20 weeks of paid leave to all parents not only allows them to spend time with new additions to their families, but also makes a strong statement that fathers and adoptive parents are primary caregivers as well.

“With this announcement, Twitter joins the ranks of other companies like Spotify, Etsy, and Facebook in enacting generous paid parental leave policies, because they recognize that doing so is not just the right thing to do, but keeps them competitive and attracts the best and brightest employees. Twitter has seen the positive impact this paid parental leave policy will have on increasing women’s equality and diversity and attracting more women in tech. It is heartening to see an influential company like Twitter speaking out on this issue and making it a stated goal of the policy to ‘expand how we think about parental leave.’ It’s also good to see them commit to training managers to make sure those eligible for leave are able to take it without hurdles.

“Twitter’s announcement comes just days after New York State passed what will be the strongest state paid family leave policy in the U.S. We applaud the growing number of companies and state governments championing what’s good for families, good for business, and good for our communities. But workers shouldn’t have to win the boss or zip code lottery in order to care for their families without risking the loss of a paycheck or a job. We need a universal social insurance fund like the FAMILY Act so that every working American can both provide and care for their families—newborns or newly adopted children as well as seriously-ill loved ones.”

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Family Values @ Work is a network of coalitions in 24 states working to pass policies that value families at work such as paid sick days and affordable family leave.