Normally it takes a flood of new episodes of “Orange is the New Black” or “House of Cards” for Netflix to get the kind of attention its new parental leave policy for employees has attracted.
New moms and dads at Netflix, effective immediately, now can take as much paid time off as they want in the year after their child’s birth or adoption.
There were initial rave reviews and hosannas. But one need not be a devotee of Piper Chapman or Frank Underwood to be conditioned to suspect things are rarely as uncomplicated as they first appear.
At a time when many are pushing the United States and its businesses to become at least as hospitable to employees’ responsibilities at home as would be the case in other developed nations, the announcement from Netflix was a godsend.
Here was one more company that gets it, values child development and families, trusts employees, understands both men and women should be able to take time.
What it will actually do for Netflix employees will be the real test.
More U.S. organizations are offering more parental leave benefits than they once did. The Society for Human Resource Management found that 21 percent of U.S. HR executives it recently polled offered paid maternity leave beyond what’s available through state law or short-term disability, up from 12 percent in its 2014 survey.
But we are a nation of horses that, even when led to water, often choose to remain thirsty — and in the office.
Those workers fortunate enough to have jobs that provide them paid vacation days — time off that might actually be beneficial to them, the quality of their work and therefore also their employer — often treat them as the last piece of chicken at a family dinner.
Yes, it’s available to you. You probably want it. You may be encouraged to take it. But you don’t know what, if any, response there will be if you take all you could, so you may convince yourself it’s prudent to not take it — and you may be right.
We have fewer paid days off, on average, than our counterparts around the world and have a tendency to not avail ourselves of the ones we have.
Who knows why? A deeply ingrained work ethic maybe? The fact that it can be expensive to go out and have a good time?
Perhaps it’s arrogance in believing no one else can do our jobs.
Perhaps it’s the fear in believing anyone else can.
Add that to smartphones that tether us to our offices 24/7, an all-too-common determination to work through illnesses and bosses whose implicit message is there’s always more that can be done.
Netflix can afford to be generous because its video streaming business is flush. Sustaining its new policy in bad times as well as good will be just one test.
The challenge for it and its employees will go well beyond the formidable task of managing the fluid needs of a tech company while juggling schedules in flux as workers take off full time, come back part time, go completely off again or whatever.
Harder still may be to convince everyone in the company it’s OK to avail themselves of the new policy and how to do it sensibly and sensitively.
Netflix already has what many would consider an unlimited vacation policy. Yet there is in fact a limit in that it’s expected everyone will satisfy their managers that their share of the work is getting done.
There’s evidence to suggest workers actually take less time off under such policies as they’re not sure how much time off to take or how their bosses will view their requests.
What’s more, workers may lose out as there’s no obligation to compensate them for unused vacation hours accrued. (For what it’s worth, the Chicago Tribune’s parent company briefly planned to institute a similar vacation policy but changed its mind.)
That workers of all stripes fantasize about having clear-cut work/non-work boundaries is beginning to be reflected in advertising.
A new ad for Hyundai’s Tucson has a lone worker packing up at 6:01 p.m. and leaving his envious colleagues behind as he cruises down empty city streets.
“Busy — it’s worn like a badge,” a voice says. “Coming in early. Staying really late. When did leaving work on time become an act of courage?”
Then there’s the MasterCard commercials that tout a concierge service cardholders might use to extend their vacation hotel stays by a day.
“We’ve heard that over 400 million vacation days go unused every year,” a child says in one.
“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard,” adds another.
A graphic with the MasterCard logo reads, “We agree.”
“They’re paid vacation days!” the first kid says in disbelief.
Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s chief talent officer, wrote in announcing the company’s new parental leave policy that the goal is for “employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances.”
Netflix, the company blog post said, is trying to attract the best workers and “foster a ‘freedom and responsibility’ culture that gives our employees context about our business and the freedom to make their own decisions along with the accompanying responsibility.”
Significantly, Cranz wrote that the company will simply pay the employees without what’s described as “the headache of switching to state or disability pay,” a way some mothers get compensation for time off after childbirth.
That “headache” is not a mere matter of paperwork.
Filing a short-term disability claim means a worker cannot work while on leave and Netflix preserves that option by keeping them on the regular payroll: “Each employee gets to figure out what’s best for them and their family, and then works with their managers for coverage during their absences.”
That in itself could be a full-time job. Keep watching.
Twitter @phil_rosenthal
