Recent lawsuits over paternity leave are just the tip of the iceberg, experts say
Michael Jenks was ready for the ribbing from male co-workers as he prepared to take off three months in 2016, ahead of his son’s birth.
That case’s recent proposed $5 million class-action settlement is thought to be the largest sum ever in a parental leave lawsuit. The firm will set up a compensation fund for approximately 5,000 fathers who did not receive adequate paternity leave in the past. An Ohio federal judge still needs to give final approval on the settlement. He gave preliminary approval in June.
40% of male employees used less than half of the paid parental/family leave they had available, compared with 13% of female employees. In 2015, 25% of employers offered paid parental leave, according to a 2018 report from the human resources consulting firm Mercer. In 2018, 40% of employers did. During that time, the median amount of allowed leave stayed the same — six weeks for the birth parent and four weeks for the non-birth parent.
Still, major U.S. corporations are leading the way. Target TGT, -1.03% recently started offering paid family leave to hourly workers, joining major retailers like Walmart WMT, +0.71%, CVS CVS, +0.18% and Home Depot HD, +0.63%. Blue-chip companies like Microsoft MSFT, +0.82%, Facebook FB, -0.48%, IBM IBM, +0.64%, Netflix NFLX, +2.85% and American Express AXP, -0.29% have also extended parental-leave policies.
Only a handful of states have some paid family leave laws There are a patchwork of state-level rules on parental leave. Between 1996 and 2005, judges issued decisions in 14 paternity leave cases in the U.S. and, from 2006 to 2015, they issued 61 decisions. Paternity leave lawsuits are on the rise, according to the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings. So are lawsuits for other alleged forms of family responsibility discrimination, like pregnancy and lactation accommodation or caring for an aging relative.
‘Men are being more vocal about their needs and not trying to hide it.’ —Rebecca Pontikes, Boston-based employment lawyer “Men are being more vocal about their needs and not trying to hide it,” said Rebecca Pontikes, a Boston-based employment lawyer who’s represented fathers suing their employer. She acknowledges clients only come to her when there’s a problem.Pontikes said the workplace “tends to push” men and women into traditional child-care roles.
‘I think a lot of men didn’t know of their right to equal parental leave.’ —Peter Romer-Friedman, counsel at Outten & Golden Rotondo said he was missing the 16-week leave because of his sex. He filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discrimination complaint, Rotondo received the 16-week leave and the sides announced the proposed settlement two years later.
A public conversation about paternity leave has begun Some high-profile men are making paternity leave their cause, like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. He’s partnering with the Unilever UN, +0.03% brand Dove Men+Care to promote a Pledge for Paternity Leave, an initiative offering $1 million for fathers who otherwise cannot afford to take time off.Back in April 2014, then-New York Mets slugger Daniel Murphy, 29, missed Opening Day so he could be with his wife for the birth of their son.
Only 20% of Lance Somerfeld’s City Dads Group tell him they’ll take every last day of their leave. Now, it’s usually four to six weeks of leave. By Somerfeld’s count. Still, only 20% of workshop participants tell him they’ll be taking every last day of their leave. Men tend to spend less time than women on their child’s physical care It may also be difficult to change generations of habits. For all the talk of co-parenting, many American homes are not exactly egalitarian.
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