Maternity and paternity plans important to Utah employee retention
From left to right, Anders Allen, 2, Derek Allen, Liam Allen, 7, Lyla Allen, 9, and Stevie Allen walk home from North Point Elementary after Liam and Lyla finish school on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, in Lehi. The Allen's youngest, Ruby, one month old, is riding in the covered stroller ahead of Anders.
Anders Allen, 2, pushes the pedestrian button at 2100 North while walking to North Point Elementary with his parents, Derek and Stevie Allen, and his younger sister, Ruby, one month old, on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, in Lehi.
Lyla Allen, 9, hugs her dad, Derek Allen, at the entrance of North Point Elementary on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, in Lehi.
Derek Allen walks with his family back to their home on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, in Lehi.
From left to right, Derek Allen, Lyla Allen, 9, Liam Allen, 7, and Stevie Allen walk home from North Point Elementary after Liam and Lyla finish school on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, in Lehi.
In Utah County — one of the counties with the youngest populations in the nation — families are central to many residents’ lives.
For many working parents, though, maternity and paternity leave benefits are hard to come by and tricky to navigate. According to the United Nations Data Retrieval System, the United States’ maternity leave is less than most other comparable industrialized countries. Germany offers 14 weeks of 100 percent paid leave, while Canada offers 17 weeks’ leave at 55 percent pay. Mexico guarantees 12 weeks of 100 percent paid leave through its social security system. The United Kingdom ranks high compared to other countries, offering 52 weeks’ leave at 90 percent pay.
Under the U.S. Family Medical Leave Act, new parents are entitled to 12 weeks’ leave, but this leave is sometimes paid and/or unpaid. Many Utah companies give their employees some type of paid leave, but navigating company benefits, FMLA leave benefits and health insurance requirements can be a headache. It’s one that sleep-deprived new parents would rather avoid.
This was the case for Haley Stanley, onsite stylist at Weave, a Lehi company specializing in patient communication software. Figuring out what leave she had and how it was paid was very stressful when she had her baby three months ago.
“Working with the insurance company was difficult. It was more complicated than it should have been,” she said, explaining that she thought she’d have 12 weeks’ paid leave, but found out only four would be paid. The stress of trying to figure how the benefits worked was wearying for her and her husband — all while they were getting used to a new baby in their life.
Luckily, Stanley’s brother-in-law is Brandon Rodman, Weave’s CEO. When she shared how difficult this experience was, he realized he needed to do something to fix it.
“It was a nightmare for her, and I said we need to do something about this,” he said.
As a result, he and his executive team created a new leave plan announced in August for Weave’s 250 employees. Weave now offers 12 weeks of 100 percent paid maternity leave and six weeks of 100 percent paid paternity leave, which the company completely pays for. Rodman is determined to help get more women into the Utah tech companies, and retain the employees — both male and female — his company has.
“Now we just tell our employees we’re taking care of everything. There are no more questions of how long you have or how much you’ll make during that time,” Rodman said.
In addition to this change, Weave pays for house cleaning every other week for those 12 weeks, and twice-weekly home meal deliveries for the first six weeks. Weave also gives new parents a one-year supply of diapers.
“The new policy went way above what I expected them to do,” Stanley said.
The new policy came just in time for Derek Allen, a Weave employee. His wife gave birth to their fourth child almost six weeks ago. He’s been home for those weeks, spending time with the new baby and caring for the couple’s other children while his wife recovers. It’s been much different than when they had their first three — he only stayed home a day or so with each of them.
“It’s been much better,” Allen said.
Allen’s two oldest children are in elementary, and this is the first time Allen’s been there for their first day of school.
“It’s been really cool to get to be with them. It’s been really nice,” he said of getting them ready in the mornings, walking them to and from school each day and helping with homework. “It’s allowed my wife time to get the hang of a newborn again, and time for us to figure out how everything will go.”
Allen returns to full-time work this week, but said the transition will be easier this time because the family is more settled.
“The kids are in a routine, and the paternity leave really helped with that,” he added.
Stanley said ever since the announcement, she has friends asking how they can get a job at Weave. It also made Stanley and her husband rethink their own plans.
“After the announcement, my husband and I thought having another kid doesn’t seem so daunting,” she said with a laugh.
In addition to applying the new benefit for future new parents, Weave retroactively applied the benefits to employees who had babies within the past year.