Paid Parental Leave

Hewlett Packard Enterprise extended its parental leave policy and never looked back.

- Brit Morse

IT’S HARD enough to be a new parent, but U.S. leave policies don’t make it any easier for many employees.

As one of the only developed countries in the world without paid time off enshrined into national law, employees are often left on their own to figure out how to start a family. Only 27% of workers in the U.S. private sector had access to paid family leave through their employer in 2023, according to the Department of Labor. Among low-wage earners, that figure drops to 6%.

While the majority of Fortune 500 HR leaders say it’s difficult to convince top executives that extended leave is a worthy investment, there has been a dawning awareness that beefing up these policies can play an essential role in employee recruitment and retention. IT giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise (No. 84) expanded its parental leave policy in 2019 as part of a larger push to improve employee benefits and says it has paid off in terms of worker engagement and satisfaction.

“Our parental leave policy demonstrates to team members that when we talk about the importance of well-being, we mean what we say,” Samanntha DuBridge, VP of benefits, culture, and people care at HPE, tells