Does family trump business?
Jun 12, 2015, 5:53 PM | Updated: Oct 11, 2024, 10:13 am
The founder of Virgin once again made headlines with the announcement that the UK-based group is now offering some staff up to one year parental leave on full pay.
Parents who have worked at Virgin Management, the group’s investment and brand-licensing arm, for four years or longer will be allowed to share 50 weeks of leave. Those with fewer than years of service will receive less salary.
Though it only applies to 140 employees, KIRO Radio’s Rachel Bellesaid it is a step in the right direction.
“Companies are moving slowly to the understanding that people have lives,” she said. “And their lives are just as, or more important than business.”
But would that sort of thing fly in the United States?
710 ESPN’s Danny O’Neil said those in the US aren’t as generous or tolerant. If a baseball player is absent for the birth of his child, for example, people will question his priorities.
“What does that say about our priorities?” he asked.
It’s a changing mindset, Belle pointed out.
