Amazon, previously under fire after a New York Times exposé accused the retailer of having terrible working conditions, took a step Monday to improve their reputation.
The company announced that they would be offering up to 20 weeks of maternity leave for birth mothers, compared to eight weeks under their previous policy, according to the Seattle Times. They also introduced paid paternity leave for parents other than the birth mother for six weeks. Prior to Amazon’s announcement, no paid leave option was available to the non-birth parent.
Amazon employees will also have the option to give all or part of their six weeks of leave to their partner if they do not get parental leave through their work.
Paid paternity leave affects same-sex couples as well, which is a nice step forward considering in the U.S. people can still legally be fired for being gay in 31 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
The U.S. Census notes that 40 percent of new mothers have to take unpaid leave, and that 25 percent of those mothers are fired or quit their jobs upon returning from leave.
After new parents are ready to return to work, Amazon hopes to ease their transition with their new “ramp back program,” allowing them flexible schedules for the first eight weeks after their return.
A study mentioned in Fast Company noted that the U.S. was one of only two countries out of the 185 studied that did not have public policy on maternity leave. Around 42 percent of those countries, still excluding the U.S., also have public policy regarding paternity leave.
During last month’s Democratic debate, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders spoke in favor of laws mandating that companies offer paid family leave. New Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, on the other hand, recently said he does not support paid family leave.
Hopefully, Amazon and other companies will continue to work on improving working conditions and offering benefits that just make sense. Only time can tell if that will happen, but for now it seems safe to say that Amazon’s taking a step in the right direction.