If you don’t yet offer paid parental leave, here are five reasons why clients decided on the Parento program. We’re proudly showcasing real-world testimonials from our valued clients and to highlight the value-add to their employee offerings along with free resources to support businesses in making the case for a customized paid leave program. Whether you’re a small business, managing paid leave across multiple states, or looking to improve the employee experience, Parento helps companies provide a supportive and equitable parental leave experience for your workforce.
“After several weeks of searching for a short-term disability insurance program that also covered paid parental leave, we found Parento. As a small organization, many of the options we encountered were neither cost-effective nor robust enough to meet our needs. Parento stood out with its easy-to-understand model and excellent customization options, allowing us to create the perfect program tailored to our unique organization.” – HR Leader at a Sanitary District
Every organization is unique, but small businesses and teams often face other challenges when it comes to budget and flexibility. Unfortunately, many affordable solutions aren’t customizable or lack certain components, but the Parento solution offers a cost-effective, easily customizable program that meets this client’s needs. Learn how to build and budget a paid parental leave program that works for small teams, and how Parento can help, in our Small Business Guide to Paid Parental Leave.
“At Rescue Agency, we strive to maintain a culture where everyone feels that they not only belong but thrive, and that includes offering comprehensive benefits to employees in all stages of life.
Before implementing Parento, we noticed a lack of paid parental support at the federal level and inconsistency across the state level. An employee in California would have different wage supplement benefits than an employee in Texas due to state law and program offerings.
We recognize that this is precious time for new parents, and we wanted to find a way to reduce the financial stress that may come with taking leave and to address these inequities for our employees in over 27 states. Not only did Parento help with the financial aspect of parental leave, but it also provided a coaching program and support for new and current parents on our team.” – Karen Fong, Sr. Director of HR at Rescue Agency
While inequities for employees across different states isn’t best practice, it can also be a compliance risk under the EEOC or Title VII. In fact, it’s one of the 5 parental leave red flags that we see. You can get insights on how Rescue partnered with Parento in this case study to manage their paid leave program across multiple states to support all employees equitably. Parento helped Rescue reduce the financial stress for employees while also offering comprehensive support, such as coaching, to ensure all employees—regardless of location—feel valued and equipped to thrive in their personal and professional lives.
“I had a great conversation yesterday with one of our employees on parental leave. She had great feedback on the Parento program! She said that during the first part of her leave, it was hard and things were tough, but having [a] conversation with her coach [was] absolutely critical. It made her feel like she was not alone and that she wasn’t crazy. Thank you for providing such a great product and experience for our employees. I am so glad we are able to partner with Parento!!” – Manager, Total Rewards
Not only does HR love the Parento program because Leave Concierge saves them hours off each parental leave, but employees also have shared their feedback and appreciation for offering the program. Parenting isn’t easy, and mental health can be especially challenging for first-time parents. The Parento program includes personalized parent support and coaching for all parents and their partners, making Parento a holistic wrap-around solution that helps companies provide personalized well-being support that’s rolled into their paid parental leave program. That’s why the parent coaching sees a 10% utilization rate, almost double what the average EAP has.
“As a public organization that does not contribute to disability benefits (and therefore bonding leave is not available through the state) and has a predominantly male workforce, we noticed that our employees were not taking much time off to bond with their new children. This was an issue we wanted to address. We take pride in being an organization that values work-life balance and family friendliness. Offering paid parental leave for all new parents, regardless of gender, is another way we could demonstrate these values.” – HR Leader at a Sanitary District
Are you a public entity that’s not opted-in for state paid family leave (PFL)? While managing paid parental leave is confusing enough across states, it’s not common knowledge that most PFL programs are funded by employee contributions but many public entities or government agencies do not contribute to the state fund. This can be problematic in states where PFL is available but employees at public entities are excluded and do not have access to state mandated PFL programs. This common exclusion leaves organizations responsible for filling the critical gap for their employees with other solutions, like paid parental leave insurance. Partnering with Parento reflects the importance of offering gender-neutral paid parental leave for all parents, demonstrating their values of inclusivity and support for their employees.
“Our team strives to create a "green carpet" experience for our Change Agents, starting with our benefits programs. Before we started a partnership with Parento, we wanted to ensure that this potential benefit would be something that can be useful and helpful to our team. Using data from our engagement survey and paid family leave data from previous years, we were able to make a case to our Executive team on the value the program can bring and to dedicate a portion of our budget to this new benefit.” – Karen Fong, Sr. Director of HR at Rescue Agency
If you’re looking to make changes to your total benefits packages, you may be looking in the wrong direction. Companies are often expected to integrate employee expectations with organizational goals, but it’s easier said than done. Like Rescue Agency, we recommend looking into employee feedback or leave history to make better data-driven decisions. Implementing or enhancing a paid parental leave program can feel overwhelming for organizations, but Parento makes the process smooth and impactful, enabling companies to provide a best-in-class program that employees value.
Looking to get started? Now that you’re familiar with five reasons that clients chose Parento and resources to help offer paid parental leave, let us help transform your parental leave policy with paid parental leave. Paid leave programs not only demonstrate an organization’s commitment to employee well-being but also reduce stress and improve performance. With Parento’s flexible solutions, companies can affordably build tailored programs, offer coaching support, and bridge gaps across state lines. Start your paid parental leave journey today by chatting with our team.
