US-based law firm Munger, Tolles and Olson has extended the paid parental leave provision for its 200 attorneys, enabling both male and female legal professionals to take up to 18 weeks of paid leave.
The enhanced policy, which was announced on 25 July 2019, is effective from 1 August 2019. In addition to up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave for both male and female attorneys, parents who are giving birth can receive an extra six to eight weeks of paid disability leave.
Furthermore, the firm will continue to view time that employees are on leave as bonus-eligible.
The extended parental leave policy operates alongside Munger, Tolles and Olson’s existing family-friendly benefits, which include an on-site, subsidised childcare centre at its Los Angeles operating site, which opened in 2010.
The organisation, which has three operating sites in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC, also offers subsidised back-up care for up to 20 days a year, per child, mentoring for new parents, and part-time or flexible work schedules.
Munger, Tolles and Olson additionally supports nursing parents with an employer-sponsored breastmilk shipping benefit, provided by Milk Stork, during periods of work-related travel.
Hailyn Chen, co-managing partner at Munger, Tolles and Olson, said: “Munger, Tolles and Olson has long been a leader in family-friendly policies, and this benefit continues that tradition as one of the most generous policies among law firms.
“We are committed to gender equality and proud to adopt this new policy because we recognise the importance of parental bonding time for our attorneys.”
