Your support helps us tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to big tech, The Independent is where the stories unfold. Whether it’s investigating the finances of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing The A Word, a new documentary highlighting American women fighting for reproductive rights, we rely on events to We know how important it is to analyze the facts. Messaging.
At such a critical moment in American history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to continue sending reporters to both sides of the aisle.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news organizations, we don’t use a paywall to shut Americans off from our reporting or analysis. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone and paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
close
read more
Netflix is reportedly scaling back its progressive parental leave policy.
Netflix, once touted as having one of the most generous family policies of any American company, began offering employees unlimited parental leave in 2015 for the first year of a child’s life.
However, a new report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that the streaming giant has been “backtracking” on that policy over the past few years.
Netflix has expanded rapidly and now has approximately 14,000 employees, more than 60% more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to WSJ, the company has since deleted the “Freedom and Responsibility” section of its founding culture memo. As a result, current and former employees say an unlimited parental leave policy is no longer a priority for the company.
“Netflix has always had a different approach than other companies in that it’s important for employees to be with their babies,” said Clara Guimarães, a former Netflix production staff member based in Brazil. told WSJ. “Now it feels like the focus is on the needs of the business.”
In October, Netflix removed information from the workplace culture section of its website that had previously stated that “new parents typically take four to eight months off for parental leave.” Instead, the company did not specifically specify the number of months of company-wide parental leave. Instead, employees were encouraged to speak with their managers before taking time off.
According to the WSJ, Netflix’s internal benefits page claims salaried employees can take parental leave up to a year after the birth or adoption of a child, but does not specify how long.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies to businesses with 50 or more employees and requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave. Some states (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, DC) require employers to provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
Guimarães told the Journal that ambiguous language about how long employees are actually allowed to take parental leave “could impact how much time people are comfortable taking.” spoke.
In 2022, some employees reportedly expressed concern that Netflix seemed to be “targeting” employees who were on or returning from parental leave by firing them. Becca Leckie, a former Netflix employee who worked at Netflix for more than five years, was fired from the streamer the day before she returned from six months of maternity leave. In a since-deleted LinkedIn post seen by the Journal, Leckie said she joined Netflix primarily because of its generous parental leave policy.
Another employee claimed that when she told her manager that her partner was pregnant, the manager said, “It won’t be a year, right?” The employee’s job was reportedly eliminated in a reorganization earlier this year, just before she returned from six months of parental leave.
In a statement to The Independent, a Netflix spokesperson said the company’s parental leave policy had “always been about ‘taking care of your children and yourself'” and that “employees are We have the freedom, flexibility and responsibility to decide what’s best.” them and their families. ”
The spokesperson also claimed that analysis showed that only a small percentage of the employees affected by the layoffs at Netflix were taking parental leave.
“We are not reversing our parental leave policy,” Chief People Officer Sergio Ezama said in a statement.
