Anna Steffeney starts LeaveLogic to make managing family leave easier.
A Tale of Two Leave Policies
Anna Steffeney had one son in Germany, and one son in the US – both while working for Microsoft. With Microsoft in Munich, she could take advantage of the generous leave policy that exists as a country standard. Germany has a government-subsidized paid leave for one year plus three years of additional job protection. Anna was able to enjoy maternal leave and devote her attention to family.
Then, Anna and her family moved back to Seattle where she gave birth to another son. The US is only one of two nations in the world lacking a federally mandated paid leave policy, and only 12% of women have access to paid leave through their employers. At Microsoft, Anna had access to paid leave, but the contrast in the standards at the country-level were extreme.
“I had what I call the perfect A/B test for maternity leave,” claims Anna.
As Anna tried to recreate her first leave experience, she realized how many more steps and challenges to taking parental leave existed in the U.S. Factors like insurance, childcare, and leave length were either left out of the equation, or nearly impossible to add up. Asking friends for advice only led to further confusion, some even advising that she keep her pregnancy a secret for as long as possible. When she finally approached HR, it became evident that they wanted to help her find the right leave solution for her family, but there was no standardized way to do so. Anna emphasizes that this is not a Microsoft-specific issue, but rather a systematic issue for U.S. companies.
"Everything else in our life we have a tool- getting into college, getting married, getting a babysitter,” says Anna. “There's no one there to help you navigate this part of life, yet the expectation is there."
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That’s when she decided to take action. Anna has since dedicated her professional life to making the leave experience easier for people around the United States.
“This is something I can’t not do,” Anna thought.
Creating a Tool for Family Leave
LeaveLogic is the software Anna developed for employees to self-serve their family leave. LeaveLogic provides employees with personalized information on exactly how much time they get off and how much is paid so that they can approach their management confidently and with a better understanding of their benefits. Allowing employees to self-serve both gives them transparency into the process and also saves HR time and effort so they can focus on complex leave scenarios.
"We really think technology has a huge role to play here in delivering family leave information and helping employees to navigate it" says Anna. "Standardized, just in time, at a scalable level."
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LeaveLogic software uses an algorithm to calculate a calendar considering state regulation, company policies, and the date of the life event. It also provides a “to-do list,” complete with work reminders and supportive content to help employees feel prepared. This technology not only helps streamline the process for HR, Anna believes that it also helps normalize life events in the workplace. Employees have struggled to navigate their leave for years, intimidated by all of the possible repercussions.
“Requesting leave is still very taboo in the workplace,” she says. “The millennials are really catalyzing the conversation.”
A shift in generational dynamics, in a time where young Americans have a record number of student loan debt, means post-grads are faced with tough choices. As the United States graduates 58% women from universities, the high-skilled labor pool is skewing female. Still, leave policies are structured to be female-focused and paternity leave feels nearly novel.
“For the first time this is becoming a very big lifestyle decision,” says Anna. “But why would you put your financial and earning potential at risk if you paid enormous amounts for upper education?”
Creating gender-based policies puts economic pressure on families when the highest income earner is forced out of the workforce. The “stay at home mom/dad” constructs are beginning to dissolve, but Anna stresses that shifting the focus from women to families will make a huge difference.
Leading the national conversation
U.S. companies are already looking for solutions. Microsoft now offers employees up to 20 weeks of paid leave. San Francisco just passed a law making it the first US city to require fully-paid parental leave. These changes set a great tone for what LeaveLogic is trying to accomplish, and the discussion hasn’t stopped there.
At a White House Summit for Working Families, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Morgan Stanley and many other companies joined to address what they're doing to repair leave. LeaveLogic is one of the leading voices in the global paid leave conversation, and introduced one of few existing technology solutions at the summit.
Anna points to a recent KPMG study, which found that it’s costing global companies $49 billion a year to rehire and retrain employees who do not return after leave. By implementing a policy of 4-month, 100% paid leave, these same companies will save $19 billion. In short- it costs less to implement new policies than it does to rehire new talent.
"It's starting to surface that if we don't do something around this life event we're losing significant talent and having to replace them at very high costs."
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Looking forward
Anna is now eating her own dogfood as LeaveLogic’s CTO takes his own paternity leave. Anna understands the best way to cope from a small business perspective, adding that while this movement certainly provides its challenges, the possibilities keep her committed.
"The possibility to change at least one parent and child experience,” she says. “Removing as much stress from the process as possible and allowing that parent to be the best parent they can be for the child is very motivating."
LeaveLogic has successfully launched as a service and expects major growth as employers continue to look for innovative ways to retain their best talent. So, Anna’s advice for parents-to-be?
“Be proactive,” says Anna. “Think about what's possible before thinking about the benefits. It will increase your overall happiness if you set out goals and then find ways to make it work. Be in control of your destiny.”
If you are interested in learning more about LeaveLogic for your company, please connect with the team via www.leavelogic.com.