Amazon.com Inc will give new fathers paid parental leave and extend paid maternity leave for mothers, as the online retailer seeks to enhance its benefits as a way to attract and retain talent.
Women who have a child can now take up to 20 weeks of paid leave, up from eight weeks. New parents can take six weeks of paid parental leave.
The Seattle-based company previously did not offer paternity leave. The new benefits apply to all births or adoptions on or after Sunday, according to a memo distributed to employees on Monday.
Amazon declined to comment on the new parental leave policy.
Amazon’s changes come three months after video-streaming service Netflix Inc in August offered up to one year of paid leave to new parents in the first 12 months after a child’s birth or adoption.
At Facebook Inc, mothers and fathers get four months paid leave plus US$4,000 in “baby cash,” while at Google Inc employees are entitled to 18 weeks of parental leave. Microsoft Corp in August said it would offer 12 weeks of paid leave for all new parents.
Technology companies offer generous benefits compared with other industries because of competition for top talent.
Issues of gender equality and family balance have also become hot topics in the industry. Only 12 percent of US private-sector employees have access to any paid family leave through their jobs, according to the US Department of Labor.
The US is the only nation in the developed world that does not mandate maternity leave with pay.
Amazon’s expanded parental benefits also follow increased scrutiny over the company’s treatment of workers after a scathing New York Times report in August portrayed the online retailer as a pressure cooker where worker hardships are ignored and backstabbing is encouraged.
Amazon founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos rejected the article and Jay Carney, Amazon’s senior vice president for global corporate affairs, responded last month with a blog post that refuted some of the newspaper’s claims.
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