Netflix logo. Credit: Flickr.
Callooh, callay, oh joyous day! Yet another company has decided to turn its back on the popular image of evil corporation super-villainy and instead start really looking after its employees. Hang the profit; it’s the people they care about!
Netflix has announced that it will be offering employees “unlimited” parental leave for the first year of a child’s life. This covers maternity and paternity leave, and the policy also applies to parents who adopt. It has been hailed as a break-through in paternal rights and other tech companies have rushed out similar policies, with Microsoft offering 12 weeks paid parental leave for new parents and Virgin eagerly highlighting the similarities to its own paternal leave package. Social media is full of praise for Netflix’s approach to employee benefits and it's much flaunted commitment to “treat employees like adults”. All of this would be very encouraging for Netflix employees and activists if it wasn’t for the fact that ‘unlimited’ parental leave just won’t work. And Netflix know this.
