On January 1st, 2018 New York State expanded the Family Medical Leave Act. The benefits now include paid time off for 8 weeks, job protection upon return from leave, and health insurance continuation. Paid Family Leave will be increased to 12 weeks by 2021.
While this is a great start, progressive companies are looking to expand beyond the state-mandated offering. Competing with Google or Facebook isn’t always an option, but there are ways to show your employees you care about them and their future families in a holistic, cost-effective, and inclusive way.
Infertility benefit riders support those seeking treatment for the condition, however they won’t help all families, such as those in the LGBTQ+ community. Offering fertility benefits can be costly and only address fertility issues related to IVF treatment. Its important to offer diverse benefits with comprehensive policies to improve retention for those returning to work after leave.
Here are 4 Companies Offering Great Benefits to Improve Family Planning in the Workplace
Carrot Fertility- Carrot Fertility provides a user-friendly platform for employees from employers who are looking to provide family planning and fertility benefits. Their services are outside of insurance. Supporting services include egg freezing, IVF, adoption, surrogacy, and LGBTQ+ family building. Carrot allows companies to self-fund a fertility program that fits a yearly budget and is inclusive to all types of families.
CLEO- Preparing for parenthood or returning to work after leave, can certainly have its challenges. CLEO provides supportive services for parents and parent’s to be with in-home visits and/or virtual sessions. From lactation consultations, to sleep consultants, infant CPR, and more, CLEO helps your parent’s and parents-to-be have an easier transition from and back to the workforce.
Little Spoon- The first 1,000 days of a baby life are essential to developing, and nutrition plays a large role. Little Spoon allows you to provide the parents at your organization with healthy and nutritious food for their little one needs. Transitioning back full-time in the workforce can be hard, especially with balancing work and home responsibilities. Providing Little Spoon as a benefit will help ease that stress.
MINDR- Just because an employee is on family leave, doesn’t mean they don’t want to be engaged with like-minded individuals. MINDR is a community that has been coined the “TED-Talk for Babies.” The company hosts intellectual events, that encourage the attendance of infants and small children. MINDR @ work can bring events onsite to educate parents and parent’s to be, help offices create calming nursing rooms, and help new parents balance parenting and work life.
Creating a family leave policy can be challenging – whether advocating for a longer leave, enhanced benefits, or creating a more inclusive policy. However, creating a workplace that welcomes all types of families with better policies will result in a happier workforce and improved retention.
