How do you erase the taboo of paternity leave? These companies have an idea. (June 18,2015)
By Jena McGregor, New York Times
In early May, a group of about 20 Twitter employees gathered in a conference room at the company’s New York offices to swap stories about becoming new parents. They shared strategies for prepping to go out on leave for nearly three months. They lamented their loss of sleep. They traded ideas for limiting email intrusions after the baby arrives and cutting back on travel once they head back to work. (Pro tip: take the redeye flight if you don’t want to miss bedtime.)
The employees in the room weren’t working mothers. They were all fathers, or soon-to-be fathers, attending the social media company’s second “Dads on Leave” roundtable. Twitter hosted the first event late last year to help encourage men to take the company’s 10-week paid paternity leave.
“It was enormously valuable and reassuring to know that this leave isn’t just a front,” said Jason Toff, the general manager for Twitter’s Vine business, who attended the roundtable. He plans to split his time off in two, taking five weeks when his first child is born in July and the other five later this year, likely around the holidays. “They explicitly encouraged us to take the leave and [said] don’t worry.”