Adobe to offer more family time to newbie parents

The company has increased the maternity leave from 12 weeks to 52 weeks—the longest offered by any organization in India.  

Adobe, which employs around 4,000 people in India, has offered extended benefits for employees who have just become parents.

Adobe has extended the maternity leave from the earlier 12 weeks to 26 weeks, which comes to 6.5 months.

Though many companies, in the recent past, have introduced longer maternity leaves, this is perhaps the longest offered by any company in India.

Vodafone, Accenture, Citibank, Mondelez, Flipkart, Intel and Telenor have all extended maternity benefits for their women employees.

While Intel increased it to 150 days (5 months), Telenor took it to 180 days (6 months). Now Adobe has increased the same to 6.5 months.

In addition, the company has also introduced two weeks of paid time off for fathers.

The maternity and paternity benefits are also applicable to parents who take the adoption route.

“At Adobe, we often say that our most important assets leave the building at the end of the day,” said Donna Morris, senior vice president, people & places, Adobe.

“By providing our employees with more time to spend with a new baby, we want to make it easier for them to balance their home commitments with work. As a parent myself, I know first hand, how important it is for new moms to be home with their baby without worrying about their financial situation,” Morris adds.

Morris believes that this move will make it easier for the women employees to stay in the workforce after they have children. This will also set a trend for other employers to make similar investments on their employees.

“There are so many opportunities for talented employees here in India, and diversity in our workforce is a critical priority for our continued growth,” she comments.

Globally, companies have started paying attention to the growing needs of parents by acknowledging their desire to spend time with their newborn and adjust to the changes in their lives. In the wake of the new era, the United Kingdom has introduced the concept of shared parental leave (SPL). The idea is to allow parents to be able to share a 52-week leave and decide how and when they want to take the time off. If mothers reduce their entitlement of 52 weeks of leave, then their partners may use the rest of the leave as shared parental leave. Unlike maternity leave, eligible employees can stop and start their SPL and return to work between periods of leave.

According to the study, the top country in women’s empowerment is Australia, followed by Norway, Denmark, Finland and Ireland. The ranking has a clear connection with provisions like maternity and childcare.