Land O'Lakes expands paid parenting leave

Wells Fargo & Co., which employs 20,000 in Minnesota, got headlines earlier this month but it is not the only big company to expand paid parenting leave lately.

Land O'Lakes recently increased maternity leave to 10 weeks paid time for new mothers and up to two weeks paid time off for fathers and adoptive parents. This new policy allows parents additional time off with their child without having to worry about the financial costs associated with unpaid leave, said the Arden Hills-based farm-to-consumer foods company that employs 13,000.

"In 2015, we began offering moms and dads paid parenting leave that is available in addition to traditional paid leaves that are covered by short term disability benefit programs," a Land O'Lakes spokeswoman said in a prepared statement. "Based on [benefits consultant] Aon Hewitt benchmarking information we reviewed in 2015, we were at the forefront of offering this type of benefit to parents in our community."

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which will offer up to 16 weeks paid leave, also will allow workers to take up to five consecutive days off to care for a family member with a serious illness and up to five days a year to care for an adult.

The nation's third-largest bank is part of an emerging trend among large firms to expand family leave.
"It seems to be a hot topic," David Delahanty, a partner with Aon Hewitt in Bloomington, told the Star Tribune this month. "More employers are considering it every year, and numbers are rising every year."

The United States is the only major industrialized nation that doesn't provide paid leave for new mothers and fathers. New York City and San Francisco recently passed laws mandating paid parental leave. Larger organizations are leading, although the percentage is still small, according to Aon Hewitt research.