Work-life balance just got a little more attainable for employees of Etsy: Starting April 1, the progressive company will offer both men and women who become parents 26 weeks of paid parental leave during the first two years of their child's life. This is huge--well above the current policy and what most companies offer. We hope this is part of a larger trend for making family life and a career attainable to more people. Read more below, and click through for the whole story.

blogs.babycenter.com - Another big tech company has joined the generous parental leave policy club!

On Tuesday, Etsy announced that any employee who becomes a parent will have 26 weeks of paid time off work, effective in April.

One of the cool aspects about this new policy is it includes new moms and dads — regardless of whether or not the baby was adopted — and it includes parents who used surrogates.

“Many traditional parental leave policies don’t treat people equally, including single parents, adoptive parents and parents who use surrogates,” Etsy chief executive Chad Dickerson wrote in a company blog post. “While we recognize the unique toll of giving birth, we believe that all members of a family benefit from generous, inclusive leave. We’re proud to be a pioneer in building a diverse, inclusive workplace and helping to shape how U.S.-based companies think about parental leave and gender equality.”

Parents at Etsy will be able to spread their 26 weeks of leave over the two years following the birth or adoption of their child. At least eight of these weeks are required to be taken continuously within the first six months. The 18 remaining weeks can be used flexibly over two years.

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