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Why Employers Should Offer Employees Paid

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Luke Nelson
ENGL-2311
Professor McGilbrey
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Table of Contents

3……………………………………………………………………………..Abstract
4…………………………………………………………………….Research Report
6………………………………………………………………………...Works Cited
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Abstract

This report discusses the benefits, to parents and children as well as employers, to
employers offering employees who are new parents with paid maternity and paternity leave in
order to take care of their newborn children. The report also discusses the costs of doing so.
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Research Project

Companies should always offer their employees a paid maternity or paternity leave. This
means that when an employee has a baby, they get time off from work to take care of their
newborn baby while still getting paid. There are many benefits to a paid maternity or paternity
leave. This report will go over a few of them.
One reason that employers should offer paid leave for new parents is that a child will
likely experience improved health due to more time spent with their parent or parents (“Paid
Leave Research”). Newborn babies greatly benefit from spending time with each parent,
provided both parents are present. Giving employees paid time off work to spend time with their
newborn children means that a baby will likely be healthier than a baby whose parents are not
able to take time off from work. According to the United States Department of Labor, “when
fathers are more engaged with their children, their children have better developmental outcomes”
(“Paid Leave Research”). It’s important that new parents are given the opportunity to spend time
with their newborn children.
Another reason that employers should offer paid time off, as opposed to unpaid time off,
is so that parents, especially parents that live check-to-check, can continue to support their
families. When offered unpaid time off, there are many fathers who are “worried that taking
paternity leave would be a significant financial burden” (Koslowski). Therefore, some fathers do
not take time off from work to help take care off their newborn babies so that they can continue
to make enough money to support their children. However, offering paid time off will allow a
mother or father to take care of their child and make sure all their needs are met while still
getting the money that they need to do so. Babies can be expensive, potentially requiring diapers,
formula, clothes, and vaccinations, not to mention the hospital bill where the mother gave birth.
Some studies have shown that companies that offer paid leave for employees who are
new parents can see more benefits compared to companies that do not offer their employees any
kind of paid maternity or paternity leave. According to the Harvard Business Review,
“companies with higher participation in programs designed to support working parents have
higher employee retention and job satisfaction” (Koslowski). In short, this means that an
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employee will be more satisfied with their job when they are allowed paid leave in order to take
care of their newborn children than an employee at another company that is not allowed a paid
leave to take care of their newborn children. This can lead to a better reputation for the company
offering paid leave, more people willing to work that job and have higher job satisfaction in
general, as well as potentially attracting more people to work for that company.

Some, specifically employers, might make the argument that such paid leave would not
be feasible, claiming that the employees would be getting paid “without doing anything”.
However, paying employees to take time off will make them less likely to leave their job,
meaning the company won’t lose its valuable workers. Paid maternity and paternity leaves could
even boost a company’s reputation, making the company more money in the long term.

In conclusion, the benefits of paid maternity or paternity leave far outweigh the
disadvantages. Paid maternity leave leads to healthier children, more financially stable families,
and a more satisfying company to work for. There is no reason that a company should not offer
its employees paid leave in order to look after their newborn children.
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Works Cited
“Paid Leave Research.” National Partnership for Women & Families,
www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/workplace/paid-leave-resources.html.

Dennison, Julia. “Why New Dads Should Take Paternity Leave.” Parents,
www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-life/maternity-paternity-leave/why-new-dads-should-
take-paternity-leave/.
Koslowski, Alison. “When Workplace Cultures Support Paternity Leave, All Employees
Benefit.” Harvard Business Review, 14 June 2018, hbr.org/2018/06/when-workplace-
cultures-support-paternity-leave-all-employees-benefit.