Postlight Joins Pledge Parental Leave

I’ve been with Postlight since the beginning, and we’ve always prided ourselves on being a good place for parents to work. Today we’re doubling down on that. I’m glad to announce that Postlight has partnered with Pledge Parental Leave. That means we’ve committed to four things for parents welcoming children into their families:

Three months paid leave for the primary caregiver.
Three months medical coverage.
Six months of job security.
Transparency about our parental leave policy.

This is an important issue for me. I have two young daughters. My first was born while I was at a different job, five days after we launched a consumer music streaming product. It wasn’t a great time for a general manager to take maternity leave, so I didn’t, really. I joined all my weekly management meetings and checked my email daily. I felt pressure to act as though I was on top of everything, even as I was sleeping in three-hour blocks.

My second daughter was born about a year after we started Postlight. The company was growing. I was a leader with obligations. I came back to work after seven weeks. I thought I was doing right by my career and that it would all work out, but then I found myself sneaking away any chance I could to scroll through my Nest Cam app, hoping to get a glimpse of my young child. I was constantly conflicted, as though I was failing as a parent and as an employee. And I was lucky: I had full salary and benefits, and my kids were safe and healthy.

From day one Postlight has offered competitive benefits and perks: a flexible work environment, 20 days of PTO per year, and a professional development budget. Over the years we’ve added a wellness program and 401(k) match (and lots and lots of snacks). We encourage our team members to prioritize life over work because we believe that having balance is better for everyone.

We’ve expanded our parental leave policy over the years as well, but there isn’t a clear standard in the United States for parental leave, especially for companies of our size. When we learned about Pledge Parental Leave—through an employee who asked us to consider it—we saw a reasonable commitment. PledgePL.org provided the structure that is lacking by not having a federal policy. And by publicizing the participants, PledgePL has helped normalize the importance of allowing new parents the time to be home with their child before returning to work.

So we, and I, are thrilled to announce that we have become a Pledge Parental Leave partner. But we are even more proud to say that eight children have been welcomed into Postlight families since we opened our doors in October of 2015—with another four on the way.

We pride ourselves on being a good place to build and grow careers and families of all kinds at Postlight—and we’re hiring.

Meredith Franzese is a Managing Partner at Postlight. Drop her a note: meredith.franzese@postlight.com.