In explaining Facebook’s new policies, Sandberg pointed out that people should be able both to work and be there for their families, adding that the country needs public policies that make it easier for people to care for their children and aging parents and for families to mourn and heal after a loss.
What may have started as a new perk will quickly become a part of a trend to retain talent, Mendoza said, citing the copycat effect as companies have been doubling down on paid leaves as of late.
Parental leave policies have become a growing trend since Netflix announced its unlimited parental leave policy in August of 2015.
Big companies are setting the bar, Mendoza said. He said that there’s a lot of small to medium companies where the bulk of their business is dependent on the bigger companies like Facebook.
He added that they are basically the role models for most of the companies and it is likely that other companies would soon follow suit in adopting the same family-friendly policies.
Mendoza said that there are more employees saying they are willing to take a pay cut if the company has flexibility and bereavement is just a piece of that.
These companies are going to do whatever it takes to attract and retain employees and giving them a longer bereavement entitlement with pay would surely endear these firms to their workers and could result in continued productivity for the long-term, pointed out Mendoza.