The Washington Post has finally heard us on parental leave — and extended it to 20 weeks

Our union is thrilled to announce that our company, The Washington Post, has finally extended its parental leave policy to 20 weeks — 16 weeks longer than the current paid time allotted to new parents after the adoption or birth of a child.

This new policy, announced Oct. 17 by the company, covers both parents, a move we hope will encourage all new parents to take the time they need.

For years, the company's limited parental leave of just four weeks forced parents to use sick time or vacation time during the crucial first months of their children’s lives. For couples at The Post, who had to divide the limited leave offered, these policies were particularly burdensome.

Last year, Post Guild successfully fought to extend the full four weeks of leave to all parents, regardless of whether their partner also worked for the company. But when we asked the company to increase parental leave, they said no.

This year, we made it widely known that increasing parental leave was one of our central issues, and that when we returned to the bargaining table in 2020, it would be among our top priorities. Again and again, we vocalized how this change would be good for workers and for the company’s image.

We are grateful that management has listened. Now, we will be able to devote more of our time and resources to advocating and negotiating for other mutually beneficial changes: erasing pay disparity, making our newsroom more diverse at every level, improving our healthcare benefits, supporting employees’ mental health and more.

As we work toward these goals, it’s worth remembering that our ability to make change will only strengthen as the number of dues-paying members in our union increases. We’ve grown immensely in the last year, and continue to add more members by the day.

If you, too, are interested in making The Washington Post a more diverse, equitable, healthy and supportive place to work, you can sign up for Post Guild by emailing wapounion@gmail.com or by talking to our leadership team.