Bloomberg expands parental leave for staff

Bloomberg LP is expanding its parental leave policy from 18 weeks of fully-paid leave to 26 weeks, effective immediately.

The policy is gender neutral and establishes a new global minimum standard for primary caregivers.

“With this policy change, we are furthering our commitment to making Bloomberg a great place to work,” founder Michael Bloomberg wrote in a global memo to employees. “We recognize that every family is different, so our policies should reflect the needs of each and every colleague — across the world and regardless of gender.”

The updated policy is double the average leave policy for U.S. communications and finance firms, and it’s 63 percent more than the average policy for tech firms, according to data from the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.

The average paid leave across industries in the U.S. is 16 weeks at technology companies, 13 weeks in the communications industry and 12 weeks at financial firms.

The new policy is effective immediately and grants primary caregivers — male or female — 24 weeks of fully paid parental leave, plus 10 transition days (one day per week for 10 consecutive weeks) immediately following an employee’s return to work.

The policy serves as a new global minimum standard following the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. Secondary caregivers will continue to receive four weeks of fully-paid leave.