Maternity Leave

Maternity leave provides new mothers with paid or unpaid time off following childbirth — with the duration, pay level, and employer obligations varying dramatically by country. The United States is notable among developed economies for having no federal statutory paid maternity leave, with the FMLA providing only 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying employees at covered employers. In contrast, most EU countries provide 14 to 52 weeks of paid leave. From an HR design perspective, the extent of employer-provided paid maternity leave beyond legal minimums has become a significant employer brand and talent retention differentiator — particularly for organizations competing for professional women in prime family-formation years who weight the maternity policy in employment decisions.