Key takeaways

  • Parental leave grants time off for new parents who are welcoming a new child through birth, adoption, or foster care.
  • While the United States doesn’t have a federal paid parental leave law, there are several laws to consider while crafting your parental leave policy.
  • It’s important to provide ongoing support to working parents beyond their parental leave.
  • Nov. 21, 2024: Kaylyn McKenna revised the article for accuracy and style. She also added information about the types of parental leave, benefits of offering paid leave, and tips for creating a paid leave policy and supporting working parents. Lauren Hansen wrote the original version of this article, which was published on January 31, 2023.

I am an experienced HR writer with a master’s in Industrial-Organizational psychology. I have extensive experience creating guides and policies around the FMLA and other forms of leave. I also consulted several experts and business leaders to gain differing perspectives and added insights on parental leave policies.

What is parental leave?

Parental leave, also referred to as family leave, is a benefit given to employees who need time away from work to welcome and care for new members of their family. It is similar to sick leave and paid time off (PTO), but the stipulations for eligibility and entitlement are often more nuanced and subject to more legal requirements.

Parental leave is generally provided for pregnancy and birthing, adoption, and foster care placement. It is intended to support family bonding but can also be used for prenatal medical appointments, adoption counseling, pre-placement visits for foster children, and other related absences.

Most countries guarantee some degree of parental leave to all workers, though the specific details of those requirements vary drastically.

Also read: Policies & Benefits That Support Working Parents

Parental leave vs maternity leave

The term maternity leave used to be commonly used to refer to time off given to mothers before or following the birth of a child. It combines parental leave and pregnancy disability leave. However, this term only addresses a narrow set of parental experiences. Instead, parental leave addresses a wider range of scenarios, including adoptive parents and employees who don’t identify as mothers or fathers. 

In the United States, unpaid parental leave is very common. Unpaid leave means that employees are granted time off of work but aren’t compensated during this period. Employers may also choose to offer paid leave, giving employees a full or partial salary while on parental leave.

Types of parental leave

There are several different forms of parental leave, some of which you may be legally required to offer.

FMLA parental leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible workers to take 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a range of medical and family-related reasons. For new parents, FMLA leave can be used for family bonding following the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. 

In order to take FMLA leave, employees must meet the following requirements:

  • They must work for a covered employer.
  • They must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months.
  • The employee must have logged at least 1,250 hours with the employer in the last 12 months.

Your company is considered a covered employer and required to comply with the FMLA if you are:

  • A private employer with 50 or more employees working within a 75 mile radius of a worksite (note that remote employees are counted toward the worksite that they receive direction from).
  • A public agency.
  • A public or private elementary or secondary school.

This leave balance can be used anytime within the first year of the child’s life or placement. It can also be used before the birth or placement, for medical appointments for prenatal care or time off due to pregnancy complications.

Parental FMLA leave can also be taken as intermittent leave or reduced schedule leave if agreed upon between employee and employer. In these formats, leave is broken up into smaller increments and used either on a recurring reduced schedule basis or an as-needed basis rather than all at once.

State parental leave programs

Some states also have their own paid parental leave programs. Currently, 10 states and the District of Columbia have active laws providing mandatory paid family leave for eligible employees:

  • California.
  • Colorado.
  • Connecticut.
  • Kentucky.
  • Massachusetts.
  • New Jersey.
  • New York.
  • Oregon.
  • Rhode Island.
  • Washington.

A handful of other states have passed laws that will be going into effect in the coming years. If you operate in one of these states, you’ll want to keep track of the effective dates and make sure you update your policies appropriately:

  • Delaware (effective January 1, 2026).
  • Maine (effective May 1, 2026).
  • Minnesota (effective January 1, 2026).
  • Maryland (effective July 1, 2026).

In addition, several states have voluntary parental leave laws that permit and regulate the sale of paid family leave insurance that may be used for parental leave:

  • Alabama.
  • Arkansas.
  • Florida.
  • New Hampshire.
  • Tennessee.
  • Texas.
  • Vermont.
  • Virginia.

Employer parental leave policies

Employers can create their own internal policies to supplement the legally required leave options, such as by offering paid leave or short-term disability insurance to supplement an employee’s income during their time off. This can be a great way to make your company stand out as an employer to attract and retain top candidates.

The SHRM 2024 Employee Benefits Survey found that 40% of employers are currently offering paid parental leave policies, though these policies can vary widely.

Companies with internal leave policies

Here are some examples of companies offering their own internal parental leave policies:

  • Google: Google takes a split approach by offering 24 weeks of paid parental leave for a birthing parent and 18 weeks for other parents.
  • Pinterest: Offers a minimum of 20 weeks off for new parents (through birth or adoption), but gives an extra 12 weeks off to parents with babies in the NICU. New parents are also granted a four week transition period where they can ease back into work on a reduced schedule. They also offer four weeks of paid leave for pregnancy loss through miscarriage. This policy is really well-rounded in addressing different potential pregnancy and birthing outcomes, the needs of adoptive parents, and provides support during the transition back to work.
  • Lalo: This baby product brand gives new parents 12 weeks of paid parental leave and offers flexibility during the transition period afterward. The company provides flexible working hours (in addition to its normal remote work flexibility), to help parents through the transition back to work after leave.

Benefits of offering parental leave

Offering parental leave doesn’t just benefit employees. It can also have a positive impact on your organization.

In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 74% of employees responded that it’s extremely important or very important to them to have access to paid parental, family, or medical leave through their employer. However, many employers still don’t offer paid family or parental leave. This means that offering this paid benefit is a great opportunity for you to stand out from competitors to attract and retain top talent.

Welcoming a new member into the family is an exciting time, but it’s also tiring and stressful for new parents. Parental leave allows employees to take time away to focus on their family and adjust to the change. Without it, employees would be coming to work stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed, which is not good for their well-being or their work performance.

Offering parental leave makes it easier for parents to stay in the workforce and makes your organization more inclusive. Historically, women have been the ones to be pushed out of the workforce after having or adopting a child. With parental leave policies and workplace programs to support working parents, your organization can maintain gender diversity in the workplace and build an inclusive environment.

Common barriers to parental leave

Despite legislative protections, employees in the U.S. often underutilize parental leave benefits for a variety of reasons. They may face financial hardship if they take unpaid leave, be ineligible to receive leave benefits, or fear the indirect career impact of taking extended time away from work.

Here are some obstacles to consider when crafting or revising your organization’s parental leave policies.

Taking unpaid leave isn’t financially feasible for all employees. 70% of employees report that they can’t afford to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave, as they have insufficient savings to support them during their leave. If your company is only offering unpaid parental leave, your team may not be able to afford to take their full leave balance, and may be forced to return to work early to resume earning money. This adds to the stress of being a new parent and impedes on essential family bonding time.

Many parental leave policies are geared toward mothers and pregnant women, which inadvertently excludes a large population of employees who would benefit from similar accommodations. Revising policies to include non-binary, adoptive, and non-birthing parents helps ensure a broader group of employees are able to care for their families.

Eligibility requirements may also reserve paid parental leave benefits for employees with more tenure or seniority. New hires, hourly workers, and junior employees may be unable to take paid leave despite their family planning goals.

Additionally, most parental leave policies don’t give time off to parents dealing with pregnancy loss or infertility issues. Expanding eligibility to include a wider range of family planning scenarios allows those employees to take the time off they need to be more present and productive while at work.

Parental leave policies may not be effective if your company culture makes it difficult for eligible employees—especially women and minorities—to take time off. In many cases, working parents are hesitant to take leave that’s available to them if they fear how it will affect their job security and prospects for career advancement.

This is often regarded as the “motherhood penalty,” where implicit biases mean women with children are less likely to receive promotions, job offers, and other opportunities because they are perceived as less committed to their work. Creating equitable policies and a company culture that encourages employees to take time off can help minimize this barrier.

Tips for creating a paid leave policy 

Ready to build your own paid leave policy? Here are our top tips to build a thorough and effective policy.

Ensure that your policy complies with any applicable federal, state, and local laws. Keep in mind that this may mean that you need to have different versions of your parental leave policy if you employ people across multiple states. Many states also have new policies, such as Minnesota’s Paid Leave Law, scheduled to go into effect in the next two years, so you’ll want to stay up to date on any legislative changes and deadlines to update your policy.

Whether you’re creating a new policy or updating an old one, ask employees for feedback. You can solicit advice on the length of leave, what barrier employees are facing that may prevent them from taking leave, and what kind of support they’d like to see when they return from parental leave.

“A comprehensive parental leave policy should be clearly written and easily accessible to all employees, with defined eligibility criteria, leave duration, pay replacement, and return to work options,” says Seth Turner, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of AbsenceSoft.

Your policies should clearly explain what leave benefits are available and who is eligible for leave. It’s also helpful to explain how employees should go about requesting parental leave, such as who they need to notify and how much advance notice is required.

“At its core, such a policy should embrace inclusivity by recognizing various family structures. This means using gender-neutral terminology and ensuring provisions are available for all types of parents,” explains Beth Hanson, Vice President of Talent in Human Resources at DeVry University.

You’ll want to make your policy available to parents of all genders and all family types, including those who are welcoming a child through surrogacy, adoption, or fostering.

It’s important to review and update all of your key policies (and your employee handbook itself) on a regular basis. Aim for at least once a year, and update more promptly whenever a legal change occurs.

“Continuous evaluation and communication of the policy are crucial. Regularly updating the policy based on employee feedback and changing legal requirements demonstrates a commitment to adaptability and responsiveness to workforce needs,” adds Hanson.

Supporting working parents beyond parental leave

Supporting parents doesn’t end with parental leave; you’ll also want to have tools and policies in place to support employees’ transition back into the workforce and throughout their parenting journey.

“Without the proper resources and support, these 12 weeks speed by, and the parents return to work exhausted, confused, and weary about how to balance it all,” shares Christine Landis, founder of Peacock Parent Inc.

Employers should consider how to ease employees back into work after their leave ends, and how to provide ongoing support through options like flexible schedules and remote work policies to help working parents balance their job and growing families. Benefits like employee assistance programs can also support working parents by providing assistance in locating childcare.

Mark Whitley, Founder and CEO of Whits Services Corporation notes how his company manages that transition period; “We’ve put together some support that really makes a difference. Think flexible hours or coming back part-time at first. Plus, we hook up our teams with resources like childcare and someone to talk to if it’s all getting a bit much.”

Many HR software providers, like Gusto, offer features that help businesses support parents through 529 college savings plans, reimbursement programs, and paid leave alongside traditional employee benefits.

Keep track of your employees’ leave balances with these 5 Best Leave Management Software.

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Kaylyn McKenna
Contributing Writer
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Kaylyn McKenna is a freelance writer specializing in human resources and marketing. She obtained a bachelor’s in business administration from San Francisco State University and an MA in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Touro University. She enjoys helping small businesses navigate the unique challenges that they face. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications.