According to emerging news reports from the United States, an announcement made by retailing giant, Amazon, regarding their parental leave policy will signal very welcome news to thousands of families.
The company's new policy will see the introduction of paid leave for fathers and the expansion of its maternity leave - a move which echoes the efforts made by Virgin and Netflix in recent months.
According to the Seattle Times, birth mothers who have worked at Amazon for at least a year will be entitled to 20 weeks paid leave while parents of either gender, whether birth or adoptive, will be eligible for up to six weeks paid leave.
In addition to these new guidelines, the company has also chosen to introduce a flexible return-to-work programme and will give employees the opportunity to share leave with a spouse who does not work for Amazon.
The company's announcement comes following intense criticism of its workplace culture - an issue which was recently addressed in a New York Times expose.
Commenting on their decision to reassess their parental leave policy, the company, whose headquarters are based in Seattle, explained that the changes "give [employees] more time and more choice in how to manage [their] leave in the way that works best for [their] family."
The changes will come into effect on January 1st and will apply to babies born or adopted since October 1st.
