The U.S. remains the onlyhigh-income country that fails to provide paid family leave, andcompanies have typically only extended their benefits to salariedor full-time workers. This year, that started to change. (Photo:Shutterstock)

As the labor market tightened in 2018, organizations turned toone benefit in particular to attract and retain U.S. employees: Paid family leave.

After Starbucks Corp. and Walmart Inc. extended paid time off to hourly workers inJanuary, 18 more large companies followed suit. As a result, anestimated 4.8 million people had access to more generous paid leavebenefits this year, according to data compiled by PL+US, a paidleave advocacy organization.

Related: Latest Starbucks employee perk: freebabysitting

Many employers, like General Mills Inc., increased the amount ofpaid time off available to new moms and added the benefit for new dads, too. Paid time off tocare for a sick relative or loved one is also on the rise, thesurvey found. About a dozen companies now say they offer paid caregiver leave, up from just two in2017.

The U.S. remains the only high-income country that fails toprovide paid family leave, and companies have typically onlyextended their benefits to salaried or full-time workers. Thisyear, that started to change. In addition to Starbucks and Walmart,H&M, Dollar General Corp. and Darden Restaurants Inc. extendedtheir policies to cover more classes of workers. Now more than halfof the 57 largest employers tracked by PL+US now offer the sameamount of leave time to all classes of employees.

“When a few big companies implement a policy there's a littlebit of follow the leader,” said Annie Sartor, an advocacy directorat PL+US. “They're leveling up.”

They're also getting pressure from their employees. Millennials,now the biggest demographic in the U.S. workforce, have pushed forpaid family leave as they age into parenthood. At H&M, unionmembers worked for two years to get paid family leave for part-timeworkers; their new contract, signed earlier this month, includesthe expanded coverage.

“When employees demand it companies have to respond, especiallywhen unemployment is so low,” Sartor said.

Workers aren't alone in advocating for better family benefits.Earlier this year Microsoft Corp. announced that it would requirethe companies it contracts with to provide at least 12 weeks ofpaid time off at the birth or adoption of a new child, establishingthe influence a big company can exert over its businesspartners.

Even so, most employees — 83 percent, according to the Bureau ofLabor Statistics — don't have access to paid family leave. Thefederal Family Medical and Leave Act guarantees 12 weeks of unpaidleave for certain workers. The policies at many major employersdon't cover large swaths of workers. Contract workers inparticular, who make up nearly 7 percent of the workforce, arestill largely excluded, though that too is under scrutiny: Googleemployees recently lobbied the company's CEO demanding moregenerous coverage for the tech giant's contractors.

Read more: 

• 3 questions to ask about paid leaveprograms
• Infographic: How new fathers are using their paidleave
• Millennials, tech industry driving adoption of paidleave programs

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