While some have descibed the extension of maternity leave for female public servants to six months by the Kaduna State Government as an ‘investment in human capital development’, others note that it might not be productive afterall.
As one divide maintain that six months would enable the mother properly wean the child before resuming work, those opposed to leave plan disclose that it might make employers to prefer to employ more male employees than females.
Describing the dangers of extended maternity leave, Ivona Hideg, assistant professor of Organization Behaviour and Human Resource Management at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, noted that since women are the ones that are usually on parental leave, it puts them at a disadvantage in two ways.
She said: “First, the longer a new mother is away from paid work, the less likely they are to advance through promotion or pay raises once they return − and more likely to be fired or downsized…”
The argument continues. Here is an interesting article on this contentious matter.
Repeat after me: Firms want to make moolah. And if you’re costing them moolah, you better move on
By Vivia Chen
Big Law must believe that lawyers are hopeless romantics. Why else are they selling the fantasy that lawyers can make oodles of money, do cutting-edge work and spend as much time as their heart desires on babies and leisure?
I’m talking about those eye-popping perks making headlines. No, I don’t mean gourmet snacks, yoga breaks or free dog-walking services. I’m talking about unlimited vacations and unlimited parental leaves—benefits that take lawyers away from what they are put on earth to do: create billable hours.
Unlimited vacation policies are proliferating like bunnies across the Big Law landscape. Among major firms that offer this goody: Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; DLA Piper; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; Mayer Brown; Orrick; White & Case. (You can check out Chambers for a more comprehensive list.)
Not to be outdone, litigation powerhouse Susman Godfrey upped the ante last fall by offering unlimited paid (!) leave for new parents—male or female and you don’t have to be the primary caregiver—in addition to its unlimited paid (!) vacation leave.
