AT&T offers managers a rare benefit: paid time off to care for loved ones

abcnews.go.com:

AT&T management employees are entitled to up to 15 days off caregiver leave, which allows them to care for ailing children or other relatives without eating into their vacation or personal sick days

NEW YORK — AT&T management employees are entitled to caregiver leave, which gives them up to 15 days off a year to care for ailing children or other relatives without eating into their vacation or personal sick days. Paid caregiver time off is a rarity in the U.S., which has no federal law requiring employers to offer paid sick or family leave. AT&T's Vice President of Global Benefits Juli Galloway said the Dallas company decided to offer caregiver leave in 2021 to help its management employees balance their personal and professional lives in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It doesn't apply to non-management employees because their contracts are negotiated separately with their union.

A: We were hearing from our employees, how they were having difficulty managing family life. And when I think about that, I think about this sandwich generation, right? We had parents who were at home. They have young children. They have parents. They are trying to manage both the generation up and the generation down. Our specific employee population is a little bit older than at some of the tech companies. We realized that by focusing only on paid parental leave, we were missing a whole piece of the population. We looked and we said, all right, how can we help our employees? And the idea of caregiver leave was born.

A: It’s up to 15 days in a calendar year where our employees can take time to care for their family members. Personal example, my mom, 83 at the time, stepped off the curb and broke her ankle. I was able to use caregiver leave