Four female Frontier Airlines pilots from Denver–Shannon Kiedrowski, Brandy Beck, Erin Zielinski and Randi Freyer–just filed a complaint against the airline company, alleging that they were discriminated against while they were pregnant and breastfeeding.

The women filed the suit with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They claim that when they reached the point in their pregnancies where they were no longer able to work as pilots, their only option was to take unpaid leave, as the airline didn’t offer them paid leave or the chance to perform other ground-based work. For the four women, this amounted to eight to ten weeks of unpaid leave each.

Additionally, the women allege that after they had their children, accommodations were not made by the company so that they could breastfeed or pump milk. They were not given adequate breaks, nor were they given appropriately designated areas where they would have been able to pump. Not being able to pump breastmilk while nursing can lead to discomfort and pain as well as medical issues, and three of the four women ended up with infections as a result.

While this may seem like an extreme example, maternity leave (and parental leave) and accommodations in the United States are still seemingly stuck in the past. According to an advocacy group called MomsRising that pushes for paid family leave around the United States, only 13 percent of working people have access to paid family leave. In fact, only one other nation doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave–Papua New Guinea. And while it wasn’t maternity leave specifically that was at issue for the Frontier Airline pilots, problems with paid family leave and accommodations during and after pregnancy are something that a large majority of American women and families have to contend with. After all, Zelinski explained her motivation for filing the complaint, stating:

I love my job as a pilot so much, except for this issue. We don’t want future moms to have to go through this. We want a better policy for everyone going forward. There are more and more female pilots being hired, including at Frontier. We don’t want anyone to have to choose between flying and breastfeeding.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Female Frontier Airlines Pilots File Complaint Over Treatment While Pregnant and Nursing appeared first on Law Street.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced an upgrade to its parental leave policy that will allow employees to take unlimited maternity and paternity leave during the first year of their child’s life or after an adoption.

During that first year, Netflix employees will be able to take off for however long they feel they need to. They can return on a full or part time basis, and even take subsequent time off later in the year if needed. Netflix has decide that this will be a paid leave, to avoid the hassle of having to switch to disability leave.

Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer, in a statement, said:

We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances.

This new policy, combined with our unlimited time off, allows employees to be supported during the changes in their lives and return to work more focused and dedicated.

The company already offers an unlimited time off policy.”Experience shows people perform better at work when they’re not worrying about home,” said Cranz. 

This policy exceeds typical leave at corporations in the United States, where there are very few federal policies aimed at working parents. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 provides employees at companies of  a certain size 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Because the Act only requires companies to provide employees with protected unpaid leave, many companies do not provide paid leave. In the past year, Netflix has made a number of changes that have benefited both their customers and employees. Cranz said in a blog post on the company’s website:

Netflix’s continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most talented individuals in their field.

Tech companies in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco, however, have often been among the most progressive when it comes to paid family leave. Twitter offers up to twenty weeks of paid maternity and ten weeks of paid paternity leave. Facebook offers four months of paid leave for both mothers and fathers, as well as $4,000 for each newborn and adopted child. It also subsidizes daycare and programs for adoption, egg freezing, or surrogate parenting and sperm donation programs. Google extended its paid maternity leave to 18 weeks from 12 weeks in 2007. After the extension, the company found that returning mothers left Google at half the rate they previously had, said Roya Soleimani, a company spokeswoman. New parents, regardless of gender, “who plan to take an equal or primary role in their child’s care during the first year can receive up to 12 weeks of paid baby bonding time, including adoptive/surrogate caregivers,” she said.

Netflix’s unlimited parental leave is the latest perk created for employees of big name tech companies as they push to attract the best talent. Among some of the perks enjoyed by employees include free meals, massages, and laundry services. The day Netflix made its announcement, the company’s shares rose to a new high, at $122.79. It seems Americans recognize the need for smart policies to attract the top talent. 

Angel Idowu

Angel Idowu is a member of the Beloit College Class of 2016 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Angel at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Netflix Announces Game-Changing Parental Leave Policy appeared first on Law Street.

Spring is in the air. While the daffodils and tulips are emerging, for some, so are the baby bumps. New parents have many responsibilities and choices to make once their little bundles of joy are out in the world. Working mothers in the United States must make one especially weighty decision: to go on maternity leave, or to go straight back to work? The choice is not as cut-and-dry as some may think—both financial and emotional factors must be considered. A family must also consider whether or not they will pay for the services of a babysitter or nanny, care for the child themselves, or enlist family and friends to help care for the child. But are policies in the U.S. to this effect changing?

In America, the concept of maternity leave is quite common, but what about paternity leave? New mothers are afforded “bonding” time, but what about fathers? As it turns out, new parent–both moms and dads–are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave after the birth or adoption of a child, according to The Family and Medical Leave Act.

There are many caveats to this act, however, and not all employees may be qualified to receive its benefits. Even if an employee qualifies, he or she may not choose to take off from work if it could cause a financial hardship, given that the leave is unpaid. There may be a solution here–perhaps the United States should adopt the policies of other countries that allow parents to go on paid parental leave. Norway allows parents to take a leave of 36 weeks and receive 100 percent of their wages; Australia allows each parent 12 months of leave, of which 18 weeks are paid.

While the U.S. may need to update its parental leave policies, one major American city has recently revised its childcare options. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced the city’s implementation plan for free, full-day, universal pre-kindergarten.

Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image courtesy of Kevin Case via Flickr

Many New Yorkers have speculated as to the need of such a program, but it seems the numbers speak for themselves. In the first three weeks of enrollment, 51,000 New York City families signed up for the mayor’s pre-K program. More families will undoubtedly sign up before the enrollment deadline for the program on April 24, 2015.

The funds needed for the program were raised by tax increases. But what if the funds had been put toward implementing paid parental leave instead of universal pre-K? Going forward, what if people were given a choice between paid parental leave OR universal pre-K? Allowing New Yorkers to reject or accept alternate parental systems may be an innovative way to test out options that could be afforded to the rest of the country.

Corinne Fitamant

Corinne Fitamant is a graduate of Fordham College at Lincoln Center where she received a Bachelors degree in Communications and a minor in Theatre Arts. When she isn’t pondering issues of social justice and/or celebrity culture, she can be found playing the guitar and eating chocolate. Contact Corinne at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Paid Parental Leave: Are There Alternatives for U.S. Parents? appeared first on Law Street.