Apple announced a new policy, designed to help parents transition back to work. The company said new parents will allow parents to work flexibly and part-time for 4-weeks, on full pay, when they return from parental leave.
Apple offers both parents at least 16-weeks paid leave. Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s head of retail and human resources, told Fast Company:
What we find a lot of times is people are really excited to get back to work. At the same time, [they] feel like they need to make sure things are really stable and successful at home. And that weighs heavy on people’s minds, I think.
Apple caps paid leave for non-birth parents, i.e. those who adopt or foster, at six weeks. However, this new policy will still apply to them. It also applies to retail employees.
The company has expanded leave for those who adopt by four weeks. It also tripled the amount of financial assistance it provides for those who wish to adopt, offsetting $14,000 of the cost. “There’s more administration and complexity around adding to your family via adoption,” commented Ms. O’Brien