Equalizing Parental Leave At Thumbtack
Jelena Djordjevic is Chief of Staff to the CEO
Thumbtack is an incredible place to work and be a parent for more reasons than one. We have a tight-knit Parents Employee Resource Group (ERG) that helps one another. We promote a healthy balance between personal and professional commitments. We have supportive executives and managers who lead by example — bringing their full selves, and, sometimes, their kiddos to work. We also don’t have a facetime culture that challenges the realities of daycare drop-offs.
As a parent myself, I realized our parental leave policy could more fully reflect our value of fostering a diverse workplace and meeting the needs of our employees. So I rallied the team and we set out to make some serious changes.
WHERE WE STARTED
Our old policy followed a primary/secondary caregiver model with limited bonding time, particularly for secondary caregivers. We wanted to evolve our policy to recognize the variety of roles parents take on and enable all parents to spend more time with their newborns.
The revamp process started with a lot of conversations to make the case for change — including focus groups and in-depth interviews with Thumbtack’s Parents ERG, internal stakeholders from the People, Legal, Finance, and Executive teams as well as HR leaders outside of the company. We also tapped into the incredible expertise and network of the nonprofit PL+US, whose mission it is to transform workplaces, public policy and culture so that everyone can give and receive family care when it matters most.
WHERE WE LANDED
Our new policy provides 12 weeks of equal bonding leave for all parents — regardless of gender or caregiver status — and includes adoptive and surrogate parents. Leave can be taken any time during the first year after birth, adoption or foster placement. This change is in addition to eight weeks of paid medical recovery for birth-givers.
WHY EQUAL PARENTAL LEAVE MATTERS
The research shows that everybody wins when parents have access to paid leave — children, mothers, fathers, and employers.
Equalizing parental leave promotes gender equity in and out of the workplace. It empowers parents to decide for themselves what role they want to play at home and at work by allowing them to be there for their kids and excel in their careers. An equitable policy neutralizes disparities between genders, which leads to a more diverse workforce, particularly at more senior levels.
Parental leave also encourages more advanced planning and creates step-up opportunities for teams. By doing what’s best for our employees, we are not only building a culture to be proud of, but also taking responsibility for our role as a company in making equal parental leave the norm.
I would love nothing more than for every new parent at Thumbtack to feel empowered and encouraged to spend time with their family. At the end of the day, everyone deserves a fair shot at being the best professional and parent they can be — we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen at Thumbtack.
