Agencies Launch More Inclusive Family Planning Policies

When Dillon Larberg, a senior consultant at PMG, welcomed his first foster child, he planned to use three days’ PTO. When the call came, Larberg let his manager know. He came back to his computer later to find a message from PMG CEO George Popstefanov in the company’s Slack channel announcing leave for foster families, effective immediately. “To come back and see the support from a company at that level was important,” said Larberg. “For my wife and I, one of the big things is like, how is this going to impact work and my ability to support my family.” PMG, which also provides a $15,000 adoption assistance stipend to both foster and adoptive families, is at the forefront of a significant overhaul in family planning policies among agencies.It's one of many agencies offering employees more comprehensive and inclusive benefits. At a time when agencies are vying for talent and changing roles is common, better family planning policies build a more inclusive environment for employees and keep new parents from leaving the industry. Paid leave for all parents Paid leave is at the heart of every policy, and agencies are taking steps to make the policy language inclusive of same-sex couples and non-binary employees. In the past, they didn’t see themselves represented in policies that assigned longer leave to “mothers” and shorter leave to “fathers.” PMG, Media.Monks, Dentsu and Stagwell’s Assembly and MMI agencies are now removing the exclusionary language from their policies. Policies now reference “primary” and “secondary” caregivers. This was incredibly important to Assembly's Liz Hunter, an associate director who recently welcomed a baby with her wife and wanted to see herself represented as a secondary caregiver in the agency's policy. Assembly grants up to six months of leave to primary caregivers in the U.S., and six weeks to secondary caregivers. Employees can break up leave into chunks as it's convenient for them, which Hunter plans to do. At VaynerMedia, primary caregivers receive 12 weeks of leave, while secondary caregivers receive four. “We leave it up to each and every employee to declare who they are, what they are. We don't make any assumptions,” said Claude Silver, chief heart officer at VaynerMedia. Silver welcomed her first baby with her partner in 2018, and was the first person at VaynerMedia in a same-sex relationship to have a baby. “People would ask me, ‘So, are you going to take paternity?’ And I was like, ‘No, I'm not the father. I’m going to take parental leave.’” said Silver. ``We need to get clear on ‘every single person has equal rights here,’” she added. The most inclusive agencies offer equal leave to both caregivers. MMI’s policy grants 12 weeks of parental leave to both primary and secondary caregivers, “whether you’re a mother, or a father or non-binary,” said Maggie Malek, MMI’s CEO. Four years ago Dentsu updated its policy to 16 weeks of leave for both parents, inclusive of adoption and foster care. The holding company also offers six weeks of caregiver leave, which applies to caring for any ill family member. Covered fertility treatments Media.Monks’ Ashley Saglie, an associate director of benefits & LOA, experienced infertility, prompting her to champion a new company policy. “I spoke to so many employees who took out personal loans, took out money from their 401k, resorted to adding a second mortgage to their home. And it felt to me like a very unfair advantage. [Infertility] is not something that people choose to go through and suffer through,” she said. Through Media.Monks’ medical plan and Progyny benefit, employees can use infertility benefits up to a certain number of procedures. Although there is a limit on the number of procedures employees can ultimately have, there is no cost limit, according to Saglie. This allows employees to pursue some procedures that might cost more than a plan might typically support. Infertility benefits are becoming increasingly more common in agencies’ policies. Last fall, PMG altered its plan so that employees can receive up to $15,000 in reimbursement for treatments. Dentsu offers up to a $35,000 reimbursement for infertility treatments, and up to a $25,000 reimbursement for surrogacy. Last year it expanded its egg freezing benefits to cover proactive egg freezing, in addition to egg freezing for medical reasons. VaynerMedia also supports IVF and egg freezing for employees, and its policy makes it possible for employees to retain their privacy by speaking with just one HR liaison dedicated to helping them. Flexible team structures The need for benefits doesn’t stop after children are born, and agencies are also rolling out policies that support flexible work schedules and child care. During the pandemic, PMG began offering reimbursements for emergency child care up to $800 per month, which could be used to cover a babysitter if a child’s daycare shut down. “It can be whatever program they want, they literally just submit an expense report and we reimburse,” said Stacey Martin, PMG’s chief people and culture officer. MMI is exploring the concept of a leave team, which would allow employees to “helicopter in and out” of accounts when others take leave for any reason, said Malek. “The idea behind the leave team is we want people to be able to take off to have a baby, to take off for mental health reasons, to take off if their mom gets surgery,” she added. There is a stigma that the advertising industry guarantees employees long hours and limited support, and that those conditions make it difficult for employees with children to remain in the industry. “People often age out of agency life. Because of the hours, the benefits, what corporate can offer, the agencies can't,” said Stephanie Dworak, senior director, client strategy at PMG. To make it easier for employees with children to return to the workforce, MMI is hiring for more part-time roles. And since Malek began speaking publicly about the agency’s policies, employee referrals increased. “People are inviting people to apply at MMI in ways they never have before,” she said. As Burnout Grips Agency Parents, They’re Desperate for Help From Their Leaders

The Future of Agencies

Agencies Are Rolling Out More Inclusive Family Planning Policies

More support adoption costs, foster families and IVF

Olivia Morley

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