Parental Leave Even If You Are NOT a Tech Giant

*Red Seal Recruiting is pleased to welcome Alex Deckard, Marketing Coordinator of Aeroflow Healthcare, to share his thoughts with us as a guest author! If you are a recruiting professional and would like to submit a post on our blog, please contact kael@redsealrecruiting.com.
What do you do to attract top talent? How are you differentiating yourself? Have you considered updating your benefits package to include a more generous parental support?
In 2017, Aeroflow Healthcare updated their parental leave package. In the United States, the only leave allowed by law is the Family and Medical Leave Act. Employees can take an unpaid twelve week leave and still have their job. That’s the only protection.
Studies have shown providing paid parental leave is good for employees and employers. The Boston Consulting Group reviewed the parental leave policies of more than 250 companies and interviewed 25 HR leaders, and found employers see a solid business case for offering paid family leave. These benefits include improved talent retention and attraction, and their own ability to manage the costs of the program through thoughtful policy design.
Aeroflow’s new policy increases paid maternity leave to six weeks paid and expands paid parental leave to include adoptive and foster parents. The leave is flexible so parents do not have to use the leave all at once. The policy also instituted unique additional benefits for parents. These additional benefits include:

• Company match of adoption-related expenses (50% of costs up to $5,000)
• $300 reimbursement for birth or postpartum doula
• Free breast pump and breastfeeding supplies
• 1 year subscription to the “Diaper Club” (i.e. free diapers for a year!)

These additional benefits are available to all Aeroflow employees who have a newborn, newly adopted or newly placed foster child.  Where both parents of a child work for Aeroflow, only one set of additional benefits is available per child.
The new policy has already impacted recruiting. Daniel Polich, one of Aeroflow’s strategic recruiters, notices every applicant comments positively when he outlines the new parental leave policy. He routinely hears comments like “you can tell you [Aeroflow] really cares,” or “my old company was not as generous.” It has given Aeroflow a competitive advantage to attract candidates.
Because of Employment Insurance, it is difficult to differentiate your company with a more generous leave policy. The policy’s ultimate goal is to support Aeroflow’s families so the policy got creative.  Doulas dramatically improve both the birth and postpartum experience. As a supplier of medical equipment, Aeroflow has some cost advantages to provide diapers for year and a free breast pump. Recognize what makes your business unique– what wholesale costs can you access, what vendor relationships can you leverage — and use that to update your policy. You’ll likely see better job applicants and improved productivity from your staff.

Aeroflow Healthcare is a premier durable medical equipment provider headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. Aeroflow Healthcare is committed to following our mission to improve each of our patient’s quality of life through compassion, excellent service, and exceptional products. We feel that it is our duty, responsibility, and privilege to help each patient regain their freedom and live a better life.