While June celebrated Pride Month, many companies offer benefits that support the LGBTQ+ community all year round (as they should!).
The positive impact these benefits make extends outside of the LGBTQ+ community, as inclusive policies are appealing to all workers. One 2017 Deloitte study suggests that 80 percent of respondents said they look for employers that are inclusive — and 72 percent are willing to leave their current job if they find another company that is even more inclusive.
As more companies today make conscious strides in their diversity and inclusion efforts, the following LGBTQ+ friendly benefits should absolutely be on their radar.
Paid Parental Leave and Family-Building Benefits for All
The United States is the only developed country in the world that doesn’t mandate paid parental leave, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 41 countries. While other countries offer robust leave to their citizens — with Denmark offering a year of paid leave, France 16 weeks, Mexico 12 weeks, and Afghanistan 13 weeks — in the U.S., only five states and Washington D.C. mandate any kind of paid leave. For the LGBTQ+ community (and all couples, for that matter), having access to paid parental leave for both parents is crucial. While giving fathers leave levels the load of parenting responsibilities for heterosexual couples and encourages equality in the home, adequate paid parental leave for two fathers, for example, is just plain necessary to raise a family.
An even better option for companies? Offering a yet-more inclusive paid “caregiving leave,” which better acknowledges the needs of caregivers outside of the traditional (and heteronormative) framework of biological families. Family building can take a variety of different forms. And all of those forms are deserving of support, be it through adoption assistance or family-building benefits like IVF (but more on that later).
Click here to read 6 more benefits that companies should offer.
