Jessica Alba's Company Joins Trend Of Businesses That Make Life Easier For New Parents
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Jessica Alba's company Honest is expanding its paid maternity and paternity leave to 16 weeks.
Her company is the latest to join a growing trend to make life easier for new parents.
CBS2's Laurie Perez reports about the new movement in business that is delighting a lot of new parents.
"I think it's great," says Eloise Duarte Ford.
As co-owner of a small business, she says she knows the benefit of treating workers like family.
"They stay with us - the employee that's been with us the least amount of years is 16 years," she said.
USC professor John Boudreau says businesses have begun to increasingly treat workers like customers, especially in competitive fields like high-tech.
In those companies, Boudreau says some companies are offering 20 weeks or more of paid parental leave.
"If they have choices and they usually do, you want to be the choice they make," Boudreau says.
Alba's Santa Monica-based company is the latest to announce it is going well beyond the national average and federal mandate that midsize companies allow 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave. Netflix made headlines this summer announcing that parents in their corporate office can take an unlimited paid leave.
Boudreau believes many companies could follow.
"What you see really is that if a good company does this leaders will say, well they're smart people and it must pay off for them so maybe I'll try it," he says.
Happy worker, happy company -- and happy customers who take note of businesses that support families.
"When I heard about Richard Branson honoring paternity leave for fathers up to a year, that made me want to fly Virgin even that much more," says mom Allison Simmons.