Why You Should Consider Leaving Parental Leave Like Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting their second child soon, and the Facebook CEO tweeted how he plans to take a vacation from work to spend with his growing family. As with his first daughter Max, Zuckerberg will take two months of parental leave to bond with the new toddler, but this time he writes that he will “take advantage of Facebook’s opportunity to take a piece of vacation.” He decided to take a month off when the baby was born, and then another month in December.
It’s great that Zuckerberg speaks openly about parental leave – many men are still afraid to take it for themselves when offered – but I was particularly struck by the idea of setting up a vacation in a way that makes sense for you and your family. I immediately thought that more parents should consider this. There are several reasons why such a strategy can be beneficial for everyone.
This idea is, of course, much easier to think about when you work for a company that clearly gives parents the option to take incremental leave, like Facebook. Not everyone has this flexibility and freedom – 86% of American employees do not have access to paid parental leave and this needs to be changed. But even if you are taking unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), you can still postpone leave for a year if your employer approves. If you have a specific deadline, it’s worth talking to your manager and HR department.
Here are some reasons why you might want to take parental leave in installments:
You will be able to spend time with your child at different stages of life.
I have heard many parents say that they feel sad when they have to return to work after three or three months because their children are “just starting to have fun.” Caring for a newborn who eats, sleeps and poops in an endless cycle is becoming routine. If you extend your parental leave so that perhaps you take two months of leave at the beginning, and then another month, when the child is, say, nine months old, he will giggle, clap and crawl, you will have the opportunity to spend time with your child at completely different stages.
You can work with a partner to fill the childcare gaps
For example, if a mother takes three months maternity leave at the birth of a child, it is possible that the father or partner can start their parental leave at three months, which will extend the time before the child needs alternative child care, which can be extremely expensive.
It might make sense from a career standpoint.
For some, taking parental leave in one large chunk can cause them to lose momentum and be difficult to give up. Nikki Pechet, VP of Marketing at Thumbtack, writes in Fast Company about how terrified she was leaving for work when her second child was born, so she worked out an arrangement whereby she would first take a two month break. and then “Give me the remaining two months for the rest of the year.” The plan allowed her to keep up with her team, but gradually return to normal. Assessing this type of set-up is not yet common, but more and more companies are recognizing that family- centered policies are powerful tools for hiring and retaining the best talent .
Talk to your employer about how to design a scheme that is comfortable for you and the company. Regardless of what you decide, as Zuckerberg notes, the office will probably still be standing when you return.