When companies are under financial pressures, one of the first things to go is employee benefits. In the wake of continued inflationary pressures and a possible recession on the horizon, companies are taking aim at parental leave that they extended during the pandemic.
The share of employers that offer extended paid maternity leave dropped to 35 percent this year, down from 53 percent in 2020, according to new data from the Society for Human Resource Management, a trade association for HR professionals. The share of employers offering paid paternity leave also dropped, to 27 percent from 44 percent, during the same time frame. Streaming platform Hulu, for example, trimmed its leave policies from 20 weeks of paid leave to just eight, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Employers with 50 more more employees in the U.S are required to offer at least 12 weeks of leave to mothers annually, Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). But employers aren’t required to pay employees for that time. According to the Department of Labor, nearly half of U.S. workers don’t qualify for benefits through FMLA—meaning that smaller employers that offer leave are doing so of their own accord. Eleven states and the District of Columbia have established paid family leave programs, typically between eight and 12 weeks, and funded or partially funded through employee-paid payroll taxes. However, the majority of states don’t offer assistance, leaving many to fend for themselves. And those financial pressures only escalate if the pregnancy is unexpected–particularly in states that are simultaneously rolling back a woman’s right to choose whether to carry a child to term.
“No longer having paid parental leave certainly compounds your issues if you’re someone who isn’t able to access an abortion that you want, or need,” says Laurie Sobel, associate director for women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit research center for health care. “Economically it will definitely impact women who are unable to access care most.”
In addition to adding to the psychological pressure of returning to work before an employee may be ready, it might discourage male workers from participating as actively in child care duties–leading to even more stress at home, psychologist Ashley Schappell D’Inverno, a behavioral scientist in the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the American Psychological Association in April.
Many firms likely aren’t considering the geopolitical issues of reproductive restrictions as they morph their policies. However, rolling back these benefits now, as states enact trigger laws making abortion illegal–overturning nearly 50 years of legal precedent–may put women in the workforce at a disadvantage. So if you’re considering a similar move, be sure to factor in your company’s location and that of where your employees reside.
Location, location, location
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, more than 20 million women have lost access to nearly all abortion services due to increased restrictions at the state level. Additionally, new trigger laws now taking effect will shut out even more, forcing more women to bear children they may have otherwise chosen not to have. Texas, Tennessee, and Idaho each have existing restrictions on abortion, but trigger laws that went into effect recently either outlaw the procedure entirely or heighten penalties for doctors who perform abortions.
For instance in Texas, penalties for performing an abortion now range from a civil penalty of no less than $100,000 per abortion performed, to life in prison. Eleven states have banned abortions since the Supreme Court decision and five other states have bans that are temporarily blocked in courts. If those injunctions are lifted, abortion could soon be largely inaccessible to 36 percent of U.S. women between the ages of 15 and 44, according to The Washington Post.
That leaves many women with few options, depending on where employees are located. The U.S. currently harbors at least 27 “abortion deserts,” or major cities where people must travel 100 miles or more to obtain abortion care.
What to do instead?
While there is no replacement for parental leave, embracing other cost-effective benefits may help fill the gap, if you do choose to curb time-off policies. Providing vouchers for daycare, on-site childcare, or more flexible hours for employees, can help ease the burden on parents, notes Dr. Juliette McClendon, clinical psychologist and Director of Medical Affairs at Big Health, a San Francisco-based mental health services company.
A handful of companies have committed to covering travel expenses for employees who need to get abortions, including Starbucks, Tesla, Yelp, Airbnb, Netflix, Patagonia, Bumble, Salesforce, DoorDash and OKCupid. These sorts of expenses can be managed through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement, which allots a set amount of money for employees to use on medical expenses, in a tax-advantaged account-based health plan.
Though, importantly, companies must still be wary of certain “aiding and abetting” laws, such as those in Texas, that allow individuals to sue anyone helping others get abortions.
To figure out what benefits employees might want most, employers can organize resource groups, or focus groups made up of parents, future parents, or anyone who could represent the interests and the needs of individuals who could face childcare constraints due to benefit changes.
“Employers should interact with and talk to employee resource group members and leaders, because they are the ones who are on the ground who really know what employees need,” says McClendon.