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Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- jacquesm 11y agoFacebook offers 4 months to regular employees.
- VOYD 11y agoCyborgs don't need that much time.
- alberte 11y agoHis dog has dreads - very cool
- adevine 11y agoAll Pulis do: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puli
- trynumber9 11y ago"At Facebook we offer our US employees up to 4 months of paid maternity or paternity leave which they can take throughout the year." He's managed to make his paternity leave a PR opportunity. Acute.
- o0-0o 11y agoAcute or slimy. Hard to tell the difference anymore, eh?
- acangiano 11y agoThis is great. It sends the message that no matter who you are, prioritizing family over business is an option, especially when a newborn has arrived. I'm also willing to bet that it's good for business. An employee with better relationships at home is more likely to be productive at work in the long term.
- joosters 11y agoBut he's not, after all he could have taken four months but chose not to.
- jsprogrammer 11y agoDid he already return to work?
- gdubs 11y agoHe's taking two months "when she arrives", which doesn't exclude taking more time throughout the year...
- x5n1 11y agoZuck could take the rest of his life off work. And when he's an old man he will wish that he had. But in the mean time the share holders can benefit from his keen.
- scurvy 11y agoUgh. I'm not trying to be super negative, but he's setting a bad precedent by taking half the amount of allowed leave. "We offer 4 months, but Zuck only took 2. Wanna be like Zuck?" He should take the full 4 months and show everyone that it's OK. This is like the unspoken mantra of "unlimited vacation" really being only 2 - 2.5 weeks.
- immad 11y agoHe is probably busier than the average FB employee.
- xirdstl 11y agoThat kind of thinking can lead to a culture where people don't want to take vacation because it means they are less "busy" than others and by implication, less important. It becomes a badge of honor to let unused vacation expire at the end of the year because you just didn't have time to take it. I've seen it more than once.
- scurvy 11y agoFacebook has hundreds of mid and upper level managers. I doubt that Zuckerberg is that involved in the intricacies of everything. After all, that's why you hire and delegate to managers in the first place. What this really means is, no acquisitions for Facebook once leave starts (except maybe the ones he's already greenlit). At the CEO level, you focus on direction, strategy, and top-level execution of said direction and strategy. You're not designing and doing grunt work. If anyone can step back from a large corporation and watch things keep on humming along, it's the CEO.
- zhte415 11y agoHopefully he can delegate and has trust in this. A lot of managers, even senior, can't. It is a skill.
- mentos 11y agoIsn't 2 a good balance between all and none?
- gesman 11y agoMeans: WFH
- engi_nerd 11y agoI am jealous. My mega-large, hyphenated corporation only gives 40 hours. Which I have just had approved (today!) so that I could help care for my newborn son while my wife recovers from caesarian section. Doing this required multiple calls to a third party company that hypenated-corporation has subcontracted their leave and disability claims to, as well as about 30 pages worth of paperwork. I spent about half as much time coordinating all this as the amount of leave that I'll get. My point is: even if Zuckerberg only takes half the time he gives to everyone else he's still being very generous to himself as compared to what happens in much of corporate America. I am willing to bet that going on leave like this is probably easier at Facebook, as well.
- 13of40 11y agoYeah, well fuck 7-Eleven.
- scurvy 11y agoBummer. Move to a state with family leave laws. CA gives 6 weeks of paid leave to everyone: http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/FAQ_PFL_Benefits.htm http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/FAQ_PFL_Benefits.htm
- engi_nerd 11y agoYes, that is a pragmatic answer to my issue...if I had different life circumstances. And I could -- my little niche of hypenated-corporation would love to send me to California on a permanent basis. Unfortunately, I have no desire to commute 2 hrs to/from Edwards AFB every day. Good to know though.
- randyrand 11y agoOut of curiosity, would this apply if you were say a lead actor in a movie? 6 week multi-million dollar production stall would in my mind be fair ground for not hiring an actor, but I take it that's illegal.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ksenzee 11y agoIt's great that he's taking two months, but count me with those who think he should take more. I took three months of maternity leave with my youngest, and honestly that last month was a really good deal for my employer. I used to say they were paying me to stay out of the codebase. I felt fine, and if I'd had to go back to work I could have, but between the sleep deprivation and the distractions of having a newborn around, I was pretty cognitively impaired. They'd probably still be finding bugs in the code I wrote that month.
- nojvek 11y agoI have a couple of friends who became parents and decided to take it in chunks rather than a full 4 months. They had a bit of support from in laws, so as a manager he came back after 1 month to ship a release, then wife and husband would alternate so there would be always one parent at home full time while the other worked.
- SilasX 11y agoGood to know that Facebook will continue to pay his salary over those two months, all $0.17 of it. :-p
- chatmasta 11y agoI wonder if this is by choice. I can't imagine giving up control of something like Facebook for even two seconds. Does he have to sell all his Facebook shares and buy them back at the end of his paternity leave? If not, the "paternity leave" is in-name-only, because he will still be the largest shareholder of Facebook. You can bet Zuckerberg will still be running the show.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
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- ryguytilidie 11y agoFormer Facebook employee here. I was never as impressed with Mark as many I've spoken with, but this is really impressive. I also hope it shows how Sheryl should be a CEO somewhere ASAP.
- askafriend 11y agoWhat do you mean you were never impressed?
- rezashirazian 11y agoThis comment makes no sense to me.
- PinguTS 11y agoTo be honest, compared to Germany that is not a good news. In Germany, you can have this up to 36 months (3 years) for both parants and your employer can't send you a notice to quit. So, to be honest, I have to laugh at Zuck. Or say it another way: I think, he does not value his kids. I am a shamed of him.
- zeroonetwothree 11y agoThis 3 years seems to be not directly comparable, because it's not all fully paid, and there are limits to how much pay you can get. Seems like it's ~$2k/month max. That's not very much--maybe that's why only "38 percent of dads [in Germany] of children under six chose to take parental leave at all". I guess they don't value their kids either?
- bovermyer 11y agoSonny Jim, welcome to America, where paternity leave is not guaranteed and rarely granted. Mark Zuckerberg taking two full months of paternity leave is actually pretty progressive for us. Learn how to context, guy.
- scurvy 11y agoAbout 17% of Americans live in states with family/paternity leave. Zuckerberg's state of California being the first at 6 weeks leave. It's not that progressive. You'll find more and more states passing family leave laws in the next decade (though I would much prefer something at the federal level besides unpaid job protection).
- bovermyer 11y agoI would say that doing something that less than 1/5th of the country is doing is pretty progressive.
- scurvy 11y agoIt's probably more, but I just added up the populations of CA, WA, and NJ. I know RI has it, but it's population is pretty small. That said, these programs are funded from employee paid disability/unemployment programs. It's not a huge reach for other states to implement similar programs. They just need to be pushed to do so (by we the people).
- johnward 11y agoI get six weeks and I can't actually imagine the full six weeks being approved.
- modzu 11y agowhy is this news
- zeroonetwothree 11y agoAnything that Lord Zuckerberg does in his personal life is newsworthy.
- hugi 11y agoAs an Icelander; Bravo to Mr. Zuckerberg, he's got the right idea. Hope the rest of America picks up soon.
- bisRepetita 11y agoIt's a very personal choice for everyone, as Mark points out. That said, I believe the first 2 months are not always the most interesting for a father, nor when the most helpful. First 2 weeks sure! After that, if you stay home doing emails, maybe you should go back to work for real, and keep some time for later in the year... Not a universal truth, but I liked the love curve over time here: https://www.ted.com/talks/rufus_griscom_alisa_volkman_let_s_talk_parenting_taboos https://www.ted.com/talks/rufus_griscom_alisa_volkman_let_s_...
- plg 11y agocanada 35 weeks http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/maternity_parental.shtml#long http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/maternity_parent... PS this is the minimum (through the government) many companies provide more (e.g. 1 year)
- ps4fanboy 11y agoIs that paternity leave or maternity?
- parasubvert 11y agoBoth. There are max 50 weeks of EI paid - biological mothers get 15 weeks of pay, then the remaining 35 weeks of the pay in the first parental year is shared between parents (even for adoptions). So, Mom & Dad could both take 15 weeks off (15 x 2), and Mom or Dad takes the remaining 20 off. There are many combinations. Of course, EI only pays $50k a year max, so many employers will offer benefits packages that match 75-80% of your salary for up to 16 weeks (maternal and/or paternal leave).
- throwaway_1003 11y agoExcellent! Good for Mark, and better for the world. The average privacy invasion perpetrated by megacorps will hopefully be falling slightly over the next two months.
- cdnsteve 11y agoOnly 2 months? Go live life while your young and healthy. The guy doesn't need to ever work again. Enjoy every moment Zuck, they grow up way too fast.
- rajacombinator 11y agoHmm this could mark (lul) the beginning of the end for Facebook. But, knowing what we do about Zuck, I'd guess not.
- Pxtl 11y agoFuture dads out there, look into this. My wife and I split the year of unemployment-insurance-covered leave (half your salary if your salary is mediocre, and that's the cap) here in Canada and it was the best decision of my life. I got 7 months of full time dad duty in and it changed me. My company and her school both offered a modest top-up on the government's parental leave benefit, so splitting the year meant we got to double-dip our employee benefits. So it's not just good family building, it's also good financial sense. It's also the best way to fight the pay gap - an employer wonders which of his female employees will vanish for a year or so. This way, everybody leaves for 6 months or so.
- jamesblonde 11y agoThat's basically the same model as here in Sweden. And i agree the biggest win is for the pay gap for women. Employers don't really discriminate as either sex could disappear soon. Employers don't take a big pay hit either, as it's social insurance that pays while you're off.
- dimdimdim 11y agoThe point is --- there was no real need to even mention this on an FB post! the CEO is also an employee and he could have done this more privately. I hate it when top CEOs try to prove that love "work-life" balance when in reality once you reach the top, its always easy to do the "right thing" in any circumstance. If she would have been pregnant when he just started FB, then would have taken more than 2 days off?
- droopybuns 11y agoI don't think what you're saying reflects reality. Anyone who is responsible for making payroll is experiencing a kind of pressure that most people will never know. "United Continental Holdings Inc's (UAL.N) new chief executive has suffered a heart attack, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, barely a month after he took on the job of improving the airline's profitability and reputation." http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/16/us-unitedairlines-ceo-idUSKCN0SA29S20151016 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/16/us-unitedairlines-...
- glesica 11y agoThen quit and take a lower-stress job. Once you're at that point you can afford it (in fact most people in that position these days could just quit and reduce their living costs, maybe not even that). I think that's what GP was saying.
- mvc 11y agoIf company executives behave like workaholics, it raises the pressure on everyone in the company to also be workaholics. IMO they have a duty to demonstrate work-life balance.
- wpietri 11y ago> the CEO is also an employee and he could have done this more privately Nope. One, it is impossible for somebody of his prominence to take two months off work and not have it be noticed. And two, his point here isn't to take two months off. It's to signal to every one of his employees that it's ok. One of my current boss's best habits is going home on time. And occasionally he'll go home early when he's worn down and unproductive, saying, "Man, I'm not getting anything useful done; I'm going to go home now." Not only is this a smart thing for anybody to do, but it's great in a boss because it gives everybody implicit permission to do the same when necessary.
- handrake 11y agoI think it's the right thing to do. If you don't take everything he does upside down, this can't possibly be bad. I believe he chose the number wisely without making it too short, which would send a message across taking a full leave is not such a good idea, or making it too long only reminding everyone that he is the one.
- iLiveInAfrica 11y agoon an interesting note: i can't wait to hear the answer to this question (if he already hasn't answered it) "would you let your kid use internet.org to access the Internt"
- iLiveInAfrica 11y agoto all the down voters: I would like to know the reason (I thought I followed the guidelines) and for the record (again), I really live in Africa the main reason this story qualified as a "news" in the first place is because he's (Mark) is pretty important/influential & with that, normal people like me have questions for them - that's all I did, asked an interesting question (especially from my pov) thanks
- someangrydude 11y agooh wow who gives a shit. a message? rich people doing regular people things, wow. fuck this industry
- MrGando 11y agoI'm glad to see this. I can't believe that in the US, paternity/maternity leave is something that is left for 'the market to decide'. I was hoping for Marissa Mayer to lead and set the example for maternity leave... but she took two weeks... I couldn't really believe it, I was pretty disappointed. In my eyes what she did, sent a pretty sad message for women, her employees, and other companies. I think Mark taking two weeks off, is an example, for everyone. His employees (male, female, etc) and other companies. Hey, maybe even the Government can learn from this. TD;LR, glad Mark did this. Kudos.
- dharma1 11y agoUK here. Paternity leave is 2 weeks off - half of that unpaid. It's a disgrace. https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave/overview https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave/overview
- ascorbic 11y agoYou can also share up to 52 weeks with the other parent, paid (though not very much). https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay
- dharma1 11y agoYeah, £140/week, paid by the government instead of employer. Pretty close to being unpaid leave
- bboreham 11y agoThere's a further 52 weeks available, to be shared between the parents.
- aws_ls 11y agoI have experienced a change in mindset regarding vacations, when I was an employee of a large corp vs now that I am entrepreneur. Earlier when I was an employee I used to look forward to weekends/holidays/vacations. Not so now. The idea of being away from work for months is unthinkable for me. Local radio on Monday morning has an RJ invariably commenting on Monday-morning-blues. Luckily, I can't relate to that feeling anymore. Not trying to paint ultra-rosy picture of being a business owner. It does have ups and downs, and it being a roller-coaster ride is well documented by many. But whatever stage (highs/lows) you may be in. Typically, its hard to keep yourself away from work. Maximum duration of a vacation, I have taken in past 8-9 years, is around a week, and the median is typically 3-4 days. At the same time, I do understand responsibility towards family. So if somebody needs to do it, I appreciate that, and definitely see myself also doing, but obviously don't wish for it. Perhaps many others here, may feel similarly.
- parasubvert 11y agoThe fact this is front page news on multiple outlets , and a pile of cynical comments here, underscores how weird America is with attitudes around "paid insurance benefits", whether healthcare, vacation, and parental leave. Unlimited vacation policies are intended to make people act more like Canada or Europe where 4-6 weeks paid vacation is common. Most civilized countries have employer benefits plans that cover most of your salary as a parent for 12-16 weeks, and by the government (up to ~$50k annually) for 52 weeks shared between parents. Mark is doing what most Dads do, and it's a good example.
- vegabook 11y agoWhatever you say about Zuck, this is a nice post. Down to earth, real, warm. I also can't help but appreciate the non-prevalence of designer stuff and furniture everywhere in the photo, despite his net worth. Thanks Zuck. You've nicely wrong-footed all the "robot" charges. My your family and child be happy, healthy, and fulfilled.
- eva1984 11y agoDoesn't mean he won't work during the whole time...I think it is great move to send a message though, that paternity leave is not for display.
- david_mitchell 11y agoIt's nice that he is setting a good example but what's really impressive about this is that he has managed to get fb into a state where him taking two months off is actually possible. How many other large company CEOs could do that without a lot of things going wrong?
- return0 11y agoOK who here believes he is actually going to be away from work, not doing anything? He's just going to be working from home for 2 months that's all.
- wfn 11y agoThe fact that a headline such as "Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave" [half what FB gives anyway] receives more than 200 points on HN means that something is really wrong on that other side of the Atlantic. -/bitchy-rant.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- mseepgood 11y agoBut isn't this exactly the period of life where one is supposed to post a lot of baby photos on the timeline?