Ikea announced it’s giving its U.S. employees up to four months of paid parental leave, which is exactly how long it takes to assemble the furniture maker’s GONATT crib.
“We think that it’s really important that people working for us get a chance to experience their home, especially when you’re welcoming a new family member,” Lars Petersson, the president of Ikea US, told the Huffington Post. The company has 14,000 U.S. employees, who until now were given one week of paid leave and short-term disability for any parental leave.
Ikea was founded in Sweden, where parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave, which they can take at any time until the child is 8. Ninety of those days are allocated specifically for the father. The U.S. requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave be available for new mothers, but it is up to employers as to whether or not to pay.
H/T Huffington Post
