The New Face of Family Leave
Men now account for 40% or more of paid family-leave claims, but do so in a sporadic way that challenges firms.
He took two weeks off right after his daughter was born. Then he returned to work for a month, only to leave again for two more weeks. His schedule would be like that for the next two months, until he had used up the eight weeks of paid family-leave time allowed by his employer.
In most of the 14 states that offer paid family leave—which, unlike paid parental leave, includes caring for elders or broader caregiving responsibilities—men account for 40% or more of claims. In a milestone, last year more men than women applied for paid family-leave benefits in California (as well as in Colorado and Washington, for the second consecutive year). Brian Bloom, senior vice president of global benefits and mobility operations at Korn Ferry, calls the development “an important cultural shift. It's the latest sign that caregiving is viewed as a shared responsibility.”
To be sure, in many households, family leave for men is less a luxury than a necessity, says Elizabeth Schaefer, a senior client partner in the Human Resources Officers practice at Korn Ferry. “Women are supporting families more outside of the home,” she says. “In many cases, they are making more money and have better career prospects than their spouses.”
As more men take advantage of paid family-leave benefits, however, managers who are already spread thin find themselves dealing with yet another unexpected challenge: trying to organize projects and workloads around increasingly sporadic schedules. Part of the appeal of family leave is that recipients can take the eight weeks of benefits all at once or spread them out over twelve months. Data shows that men are four times more likely than women to take family leave intermittently rather than in a single block. But the sometimes erratic scheduling of intermittent leave means managers can’t rely on options like hiring an interim or gig worker, says Schaefer. Dennis Deans, global human resources business partner at Korn Ferry, agrees. He says that firms haven’t done enough to support managers in planning around these sporadic and often lengthy absences. “Firms need to provide more structure and resources so managers can work through those timelines,” he says.
Right now, intermittent leave affects only a few firms in only a few states, but it could easily become a big issue for leaders across industries. Only about one-third of firms currently offer paid family leave as opposed to other forms of paid and unpaid leave. But Schaefer says the popularity of the benefit, the value younger generations place on benefits in choosing employers, and the growing use of paid family leave by men in particular is likely to lead more states and firms across industries to offer it in the future. “It will certainly be expanded,” says Schaefer. “Younger generations want to see this benefit more widespread.”
As paid family leave gains more traction, firms will need to equip managers with clear coverage plans and help them communicate to team members and other stakeholders how workloads will be handled during an extended absence, says Bloom. More importantly, leaders and human resources officers will have to be hypervigilant about possible unconscious bias on the part of managers against men who take family leave. Experts say leaders should emphasize that the benefit is part of everyone’s compensation, and that offering it is part of why people stay with the firm. “Men may still worry that taking the full leave available to them will be interpreted as a lack of commitment or ambition,” says Bloom. “The strongest leaders and organizations will treat family leave as a normal workplace benefit—regardless of who takes it.”
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