Does a Paid Parental Leave Policy Create an Organizational Culture that Contributes to the Advancement of Women in Government?

April 23, 2015

Jessica Butherus, Amber Chaudhry, LeBrit Nickerson, Caty Rogers & Marcia Straut

I. Introduction
The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was a vital step toward improving workers’ access to leave, in order to help care for new children or ill family members. Unfortunately, the law does not require employees to be paid and does not cover organizations with less than 50 workers. Therefore, many workers still do not have access to leave, and those that do often find it financially difficult to take advantage of the benefits (Gault, Hartmann, Hegewisch, Millie, and Reichlin, p.4). With no legal requirements, only 11% of employees working in the private sector and only 16% of government employees have access to paid leave (Rosen). Discussion of paid parental leave has recently made it back in the spotlight. This January, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum directing agencies to allow federal employees to take up to six weeks of advanced sick leave to care for a new child or ill family member (Mufson and Eilperin). City governments, including Boston and Seattle, recently announced paid parental leave policies of their own (O’Brien, Capitol Hills Time Staff).
As aspiring female leaders in the federal government, we chose to explore: Does a Paid Parental Leave Policy Create an Organizational Culture that Contributes to the Advancement of Women in Government? Research indicates that paid parental leave supports many positive employee and organizational outcomes. However, few studies evaluate the relationship between paid parental leave and an organizational culture that supports women in leadership. For our analysis, we surveyed 10 female federal employees to explore the workplace norms,