Posted by: Andrea Fulle
Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/11/30/credit-suisse-is-raising-the-stakes-in-wall-streets-parental-leave-arms-race/
This article caught my attention because unlike most parental leave news stories, it’s from a business based source. Wall Street, not something typically associated with equality or fairness, is currently engaging in the same sort of parental leave arms race that is going on more publicly in among major tech companies based in Silicon Valley. The article, written by Rachel Emma Silverman, discusses the Zurich-headquartered bank employees “will be eligible for 20 weeks of paid parental leave, up from 12 weeks previously, making it one of the richest leave packages in financial services.”
Unlike many of the policies announced recently, these benefits will be available to hourly employees rather than just to salary-paid employees. Furthermore, the aid is available for those who are not full-time. As long as the employee works at least 20 hours per week, they are eligible.
This unique policy is available “to primary caregivers of either gender and can be taken in the first 12 months after the baby is born… Non-primary caregivers, however, get only one week of paid leave, plus 19 weeks of unpaid leave.” That this policy is not gender exclusive is important. By using caregiver status (primary or non-primary) rather than gender (most paid leave policies apply exclusively to women) Credit Suisse effectively removes gender from the equation of child-rearing with regard to professional life.
Comparing leave policies is tricky because there are so many factors that play into how generous a policy is. From my research I’ve learned that what is almost as important as the number of weeks or the amount of wage compensation is the flexibility that the policy provides. Other company’s have received praise for offering leave to be taken continuously or intermittently, this policy’s focus on caregiver status makes it similarly flexible and attractive for prospective employees.