BX Blackstone Inc

By Rachel Emma Silverman 

Big changes at blue-chip companies last year changed life for a lot of new parents, but there is still a long way to go.

Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Accenture, Netflix Inc., Blackstone Group LP, Nestlé SA and others have expanded paid leave for new parents and added benefits such as shipping breast milk and paying for family nannies to travel with employees on business trips.

At Netflix, employees can take up to a year of paid leave to care for a child, while Amazon also increased time off for fathers and adoptive parents, in addition to birth mothers.

Benefits experts say that trend will continue in 2016, as companies court millennial employees who are beginning to start families and seeking roles that allow greater flexibility.

Experts also expect to see more workers thinking beyond leave, figuring out ways employees can balance the demands of work and family after they return to the job. Accenture allows new parents to cut back on business travel during that first year, and private-equity firm KKR & Co. and investment bank Credit Suisse Group AG now pay for infants and child care providers to travel with new parents who have to be on the road.

The big question in 2016 will be whether new parents will take those extended leaves--and what happens when they return to the office.

"It's one thing to offer a benefit, but if employees feel like they can't take advantage of it, it's not doing them any good," says Karen Rubin, managing director, North America, of Talking Talent, which provides coaching to firms such as Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and McKinsey & Co. on family leave transitions.

Some firms, such as Credit Suisse are using data analytics to carefully track whether changes to its leave policy have an impact when it comes to retaining and hiring women. Returning from a maternity leave is a turning point that often results in attrition for female employees, human resources leaders say.

To ease workers' qualms about taking long leaves, KKR, Credit Suisse and others are introducing parental-leave coaching to train both parents and managers as to how to handle monthslong leaves.

Company executives and bosses must set the tone by applauding or promoting employees who take leaves, or by taking significant leaves themselves, say work-and-family experts and HR consultants.

Facebook Inc. founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg won plaudits after announcing he would take a two-month paternity leave following the birth of his daughter late last year, a long time for a chief executive but less than the four months of paid leave the company offers to all employees.

Yahoo Inc. chief Marissa Mayer said she would take only a "limited time away" following the birth of her twins in December. Her decision has been criticized by some, but she may have had little choice as Yahoo goes through a critical period where it is considering a sale of its core businesses.

Under Ms. Mayer, however, the company expanded paid leave to as much as 16 weeks.

As of now, most companies pumping up parental benefits are in fields such as technology and finance, where the fight for talent is fierce and where women are underrepresented. Less progress is being made in companies with a more diversified workforce.

Only about 13% of workers have access to paid family leave, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data and the U.S. remains one of few countries not to mandate paid leave for mothers.

Washington, D.C., is weighing one of the most generous family-leave measure in the country, which would require employers to offer 16 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or sick family member. The bill, however, faces opposition from some businesses that contend a mandate would be burdensome.

Paid-leave laws are floating around Congress and the issue is a centerpiece of Democratic presidential candidates' platforms. In this election year, however, individual businesses and municipalities are likely to be the ones driving the biggest changes.

Write to Rachel Emma Silverman at rachel.silverman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 05, 2016 19:56 ET (00:56 GMT)

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