Yahoo has just set the new standard for family leave benefits: a gift package of company-branded items for employees who get a new cat or dog. Oh, and it's now giving new moms more time off with pay than dads.
The Sunnyvale,Calif.-based internet goliath created a stir in the HR field not too long ago when it unveiled a new suite of benefits to, according to the company, "support the happiness and well-being of Yahoos and their families."
Of course, Yahoo generated an even bigger buzz when it limited telecommuting earlier this year.
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Regardless, the gift package for kitty and puppy (what about guinea pigs and parrots?) may jump out as beyond the reach of most employers. But other elements of Yahoo's benefits package could have trend-setting potential.
For instance, the company offers eight week of paid maternity and paternity leave for employees — and now allows women to take another eight weeks with pay if they feel they need it for further bonding, caregiving and recovery.
In a recent article on the Society of Human Resource Management website, several attorneys agreed that it's OK for Yahoo to discriminate against men in this way, since, as one said, "The father did not give birth."
Yet it clearly raises the troubling issue of whether Yahoo is stuck in the gender-based past with the policy. Does it imply women are disabled by child birth and hence need extra time to regain their health?
Not at all, Detroit attorney Megan Norris told SHRM.
"I would not frame any of this as 'maternity' or 'paternity,' " Norris said. "I would rather differentiate on purpose (e.g., disability vs. caregiver) than on gender."
The discrepancy in favor of more paid leave time for women meets the current legal standard for such benefits, several attorneys told SHRM.
Yahoo didn't stop with the gender-based benefit aimed at taking good care of new Yahoo mommies.
Its innovative perks, in addition to the pet gift basket, include paying new parents $500 for household expenses related to the new baby (laundry, takeout food and groceries quality); sending home a baby gift basket of Yahoo-branded goodies; and offsetting the cost of adoption for employees.
The bigger picture, said Chicago attorney Camille Olson, is that Yahoo is enriching its benefits packages to compete for the top employees in its highly competitive marketplace.
"While Yahoo's parental-leave benefits are significantly more generous than those provided by most employers, we are gradually seeing a trend of companies offering more comprehensive parental-leave policies than required by state and federal laws," Olson told SHRM.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
