Paid Parental Leave

The federal government could save an estimated $50 million in recruitment and retention costs by putting in place a paid parent leave benefit, according to a new study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Lawmakers, union representatives and other groups met on Capitol Hill on Monday to tout the findings of the report as a means for garnering support for legislation that would provide parental leave benefits to federal employees.

If paid parental leave were in place, for example, an additional 2,650 employees would remain in the government each year, saving approximately $50 million, the report states. "Research shows a strong connection between offering paid parental leave and the retention of top employees, a fact driving more and more employers to offer this key benefit," said Kevin Miller, senior research associate for IWPR and one of the authors of the report.

Further, about three-quarters of Fortune 100 companies offer paid maternity leave, and about a third of those companies offer paid paternity leave, the report also noted. That list of top companies offering such benefits include many technology companies, meaning the government could stand to compete with the private sector and experience significant savings in recruiting and retaining top-notch IT workers.

"Common sense benefits [that] assist employees in balancing competing work and home responsibilities help agencies hold on to talented workers," said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. "This report shows that is true, with an added benefit of saving the government money."

IWPR's report also touted benefits such as telecommuting, flextime and part-time schedules for mothers phasing back into full-time work as benefits that would both attract and retain top workers into the federal government.