Coca-Cola is extending its paid parental leave to all U.S. employees, effective Jan. 1, 2017.
The benefits — which will be available to new mothers, fathers, and adoptive and foster parents — are in addition to the six-to-eight weeks of paid leave the company currently offers to birth mothers through short-term disability.
“Fostering an inclusive workplace means valuing all parents, no matter their gender or sexual orientation,” said Ceree Eberly, chief people officer at Coca-Cola. “We think the most successful way to structure benefits to help working families is to make them gender-neutral and encourage both moms and dads to play an active role in their family lives.”
Read: How to bridge the parental leave divide
The company’s new policy stemmed from Coca-Cola Millennial Voices, a group of young employees that proposes ideas for the company to attract and retain millennial employees and consumers.
Internal research conducted by Coca-Cola shows that millennials will account for more than half of the company’s global workforce by 2020.
“Increasingly, millennials are becoming moms and dads,” said Katherine Cherry, 27, one of five members of Millennial Voices, who worked on the new policy. “Paid parental leave isn’t just a nice thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do for our business.”
Major organizations, such as Amazon, Credit Suisse, Facebook, Microsoft and Netflix have recently announced similar parental benefits in an effort to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining talent.
Read: Netflix offers U.S. workers paid maternity, paternity leave
Read: Microsoft expands parental leave, improves 401(k) plan
While many countries offer paid parental leave, the U.S. lags behind Canada and the rest of the developed world.
The country’s Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to care for a newborn, adopted or foster child.
However, the law only applies to those who work for private employers with 50 or more employees.
Read: Budget 2016: Government commits to improving compassionate care leave and parental leave benefits