Ernst & Young, a professional services firm out of London, has found that giving new fathers the same amount of paid parental leave as new mothers has drastically reduced turnover among their female employees. Female employee turnover used to be 15% higher than men’s. Today, it is now between 0-2%.
What’s the Correlation?
Experts believe that when new fathers are given paid parental leave, new mothers are less likely to feel overwhelmed with taking care of a newborn all on their own. This overwhelming feeling is often cited as the reason new moms don’t return to work—they feel they have too much responsibility at home.
Progression Equals Less Turnover
Companies that offer paid parental leave for new fathers often do so because they do not believe parenting is only a mother’s job. This progressive attitude often creates a workspace that promotes women to leadership roles more often than other companies. In fact, some companies see paid parental leave for new mothers and even hiring or promoting women as an economical risk – what if they quit after their paid leave? Rather than fighting this pattern by acknowledging the lack of paid parental leave for men and how this affects these situations, they make the mistake of not offering paternal leave at all.
In Summary
Studies show again and again that companies with paid parental leave have higher employee engagement, retention, and productivity. They also have lower rates of absenteeism. Why? Because when employees have work-life balance, they’re less likely to not want to show up at their job.
Many business owners can’t afford to offer paid parental leave, but still want to fight turnover. That’s why they use Refered software. Refered is retention software that incentivizes your employees to refer qualified employees to your business. Contact us today for a free trial!
