Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, has recently changed the company’s parental leave policy, according to internal documents cited by the New York Times. Previously, employees were offered 20 weeks of paid leave, but this has been reduced to whatever is required by law in the region where the employees work, with a ‘top up’ of two weeks of leave. The change will impact employees in states without paid leave policies.
It is worth noting that there is no federal law in the United States mandating paid parental leave, but the Family and Medical Leave Act does allow for ‘unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.’ However, there are 12 states that provide paid family and medical leave of some kind. California, for example, permits up to eight weeks of paid leave under state law, while New York and New Jersey allow up to 26 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in addition to 12 weeks of paid leave.
Some Twitter users have criticized the decision, arguing that it will leave new mothers with insufficient time to recover and bond with their newborns. One user asked, ‘So let me get this straight… as an ex-Tweep who lives in MO – a state that doesn’t require employers to give any time off – I would only get 2 weeks under this new policy? Also, how does this not breach the acquisition deal of protecting benefits for 1 year after close?’ Another commented, ‘Shame on Twitter. Only two weeks of paid parental leave?! This is not the way.’
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