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Over the last several years, there has been a surge of workers in the U.S. demanding better from their employers – livable wages, salary transparency, flexible work schedules, paid time off and more. After the COVID-19 pandemic thrust our nation’s caregiving crisis into the spotlight – and with the issue at the front of people’s minds as the presidential election nears, workers are making their needs clear to employers that they need the time and flexibility to care for themselves and their families. Leading employers have responded by improving their policies around pay and time off, but a key piece of the puzzle is making sure that current and prospective employees are fully aware of all of the benefits a company has to offer.

To highlight companies that have cutting-edge leave policies, as well as to showcase the benefits to companies of transparency, we have launched the Leading on Leave Index. This index will capture the important details about company leave policies that are often left unseen and will identify cutting-edge trends in paid leave offerings. This new Index incentivizes employers to be transparent while also giving credit and visibility to the employers who are leading the way in paid leave.

Transparent and accessible paid family and medical leave policies benefit both employers and employees, and should be a characteristic of any company working to improve their workplace culture and competitiveness. Most Americans believe companies should center their workers in business practices, both with fair pay and strong benefits. A report found that 70 percent of U.S. workers would transition to jobs offering better benefits, like paid medical and family leave.

Transparency of company benefits would overwhelmingly benefit women, who still bear the brunt of caregiving responsibilities in the U.S. On average, women are providing 65 percent of unpaid care work in U.S. households. Studies show that women’s careers are five to eight times more likely than men’s to be affected by care work obligations. Care work remains largely unsupported with adequate policy, and caregiving discrimination affects the employment rates of women. Simultaneously, two-thirds of workers believe their companies do not effectively communicate or promote their benefit packages, leading to underutilization. The lack of awareness of these benefits can hurt women’s finances, affect their ability to find work, create stress, and have a rippling effect on their loved ones at home. For example, new mothers who take paid leave are 54 percent more likely to report wage increases and are more likely to stay in the workforce compared to those who do not or cannot take leave.

Businesses also directly benefit from workers utilizing their family and medical paid leave policies: paid leave has been proven to lower turnover rates. Replacing workers costs about 24 percent of annual wages and in some industries as much as 150 percent. Companies with paid leave programs are also more likely to experience higher financial returns. An analysis found that firms experienced 4.6 percent greater revenue after implementing paid leave.

Paid leave transparency is also imperative for supporting women of color in their work fields. Black, Hispanic, Latina, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women experience occupational segregation as they are more likely to work in jobs with lower pay. These jobs are less likely to offer paid leave packages, making women of color more susceptible to adverse economic outcomes. Three in 10 workers who previously took leave for parental, family or medical reasons report it being difficult to learn about their company’s leave benefits. Research shows that lower income earners face the most difficulty in understanding their company’s family and medical leave policies; they also receive less support from their colleagues when taking leave. Increasing transparency and enhancing communications of paid family and medical leave offerings creates equitable access for diverse talent.

This underscores the need for greater transparency, clarity, and support for both current and future workforce talent. The #ShowUsYourLeave database by theSkimm highlights some great paid leave benefits offered by companies yet lacks information on full-time versus part-time employees, especially as it pertains to rules regarding how long a worker must be employed to access their benefits.

Employers, policymakers and workers alike are noticing the value of transparency around other policies like salary ranges. Salary transparency laws have now been implemented in 10 states, and are already showing benefits for employers and employees. Research found that 98 percent of workers think companies should display pay ranges in job listings and that 74 percent of workers are less interested in applying to job listings lacking pay range information. Of companies using salary transparency in job postings, 66 percent report an increase in quality applicants. The positive business results of salary transparency suggest that a similar approach to paid leave transparency can also be advantageous. The expanding trends in salary and leave transparency are a reflection of this. LinkedIn has notably instituted a new ‘job collections’ tool where job seekers can select to only look through job listings for companies offering parental leave, and other filters. New research from Indeed highlighted that paid leave is increasingly mentioned in job postings. From January 2020 to May 2024, mentions of it more than doubled – from 16 percent to 34 percent, with the largest growth in mentions coming from front-line jobs and industries. With the continued growth and popularity of remote work, employers are recognizing that not only are paid leave benefits essential to attract and retain talent – ensuring people know what you are offering is a critical piece of the puzzle.

Transparency has benefits for both workers and companies; if already offering paid family and medical leave benefits, why not promote that to your current and future workforce? When businesses fail to share and promote their paid family and medical leave policies to employees and potential applicants, they are missing out on improving staff morale, productivity, and cost savings. Companies must begin to ask themselves how accessible their paid leave policies are for their employees amongst other improvements they implement to establish transparent business practices. It’s time for everyone to do their part in listening to the overwhelming majority of Americans who see the value in offering transparent paid family and medical leave information. We encourage all businesses looking to evaluate and strengthen their paid leave transparency to consider applying for the Leading on Leave Index, which is open to applications through September 13.

Thanks to Jesse Matton for her support on this piece.