SEATTLE, Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Panorama, an action tank working alongside partners to drive action on major social issues, released "Understanding the Business Impacts of Paid Leave," an employee resource modeling the potential costs and benefits of offering paid family and medical leave (PFML). It outlines the publicly available data around the investments and returns of employer-driven paid leave programs and will inform a PFML working group, Working Family Business Alliance, led by Panorama and Nestlé USA, launching at the 2018 Concordia Summit.
For U.S. businesses, cost of implementation is the leading barrier to paid leave adoption. Business leaders lack the data to understand the range of costs required to implement paid leave, or how a policy could impact the company's bottom line. Additionally, while PFML undergoes rigorous analysis prior to adoption, employers rarely evaluate the business returns after implementation.
"In the absence of broad local or national policy it is U.S. businesses that play the most critical role in providing for the needs of workers," said Kimble Snyder, director of workforce initiatives at Panorama. "They are doing this without an accurate picture of what benefits like PFML mean to both workers, and their bottom line. To increase access to paid leave, we have to change that."
In addition to a summary of available data, Panorama's resource includes a framework illustrating the complex system of elements that lead companies from the starting point of making an investment into a PFML program, to returns and, perhaps most importantly, to the levers that help guide employers to intended outcomes. To put these learnings into action, it will serve as the baseline for the Working Family Business Alliance.
The resource and framework also supports the Paid Leave Pledge, which launched in June 2018 and calls on companies to make a commitment to publicly share data on the impact of their PFML programs. Throughout a yearlong cycle, this consortium of businesses – which includes Nestlé USA, SAP, Union Square Hospitality Group, Burton Snowboards, Limeade, TCG, and Busboys and Poets – will share strategies and best practices, leading to the release of data impacts in summer of 2019. Concurrently, businesses that wish to participate but cannot commit to publicly sharing data, can join an anonymous data-sharing cohort.
Panorama's work around tracking the return on investment of paid leave is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. To access resources for businesses, learn how to participate in the paid leave conversation, and join future events visit us at www.uspaidleave.org
About Panorama
Panorama is an action tank working to solve global problems through audacious thinking and bold action. We bring together diverse perspectives to spark new ideas that create change on issues affecting people, the planet and productivity. Based in Seattle, Panorama is a team of strategists, advocates, campaigners, analysts, storytellers, resource mobilizers and organizational designers with deep experience in foundations, non-governmental organizations, private companies and public institutions.
Contact: April Matson
Communications Officer, Panorama
april.matson@panoramaglobal.org
SOURCE Panorama
