To be honest, this is exactly why I do not plan on starting a family in the Bay Area, and instead, will return back to Toronto.<p><a href="http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/pregnancy.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/pregnancy....</a>
<a href="http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/maternity_parental.shtml#eligible" rel="nofollow">http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/maternity_parent...</a><p>Basically, in Ontario, mothers are eligible for 17 weeks of pregnancy leave. After giving birth, both parents are eligible for up to 37 weeks of parental leave.<p>This time is unpaid, but has no impact on your benefits, length of employment, seniority, etc. Many companies do pay for this time off, especially since the government employment insurance program will help if your weekly income drops below 40%.<p>The money helps significantly, but for me, it's more about the time. These are important and formative weeks during your child and family's development. A couple of my friends just had a baby, and I can see how much they cherish every moment they spend with him.<p>I won't be worrying about these kinds of benefits for a few more years, but it's still something that I view as important.
Kudos to Yahoo!! It is shocking how little maternity leave is provided by the average company. I have a friend who got 8 weeks, took 8 more without pay ... she was so pissed off that she used part of the leave time to find another job. The company lost a top notch worker for being so stingy with maternity leave!
Is anyone aware of how the courts have interpreted things like this (if at all)?<p>> <i>"Under the new policy, mothers can take 16 weeks of paid leave with benefits, and fathers can take up to eight weeks"</i><p>Would that not be considered discriminatory?
It's really hard for me to see this as something other than reactionary to all the criticism after the WFH policy fiasco. I think it's great for those who are expecting, but this feels like trying to save face.<p>After one year, I expected more in terms of results from Yahoo under Mayer's tenure. I'm not as close to it, but I just didn't see benefit and work policies as the difference between success and failure in the marketplace for Yahoo.
This is a pretty fair deal. As the sole income for a family of 5 in the bay area, these kind of perks are good. Well, not that it matters for me anymore. No more kids for us!!!