Cutting back on parental leave? That’s a hard no for Kickstand.

By Nora Panahi

We’re seeing more and more businesses consider cutting parental benefits to offset the cost of inflation, and we are, to say the least, disappointed. Even when times are tough, supporting the needs of your team should be kept a priority. In fact, it’s in tougher times that teams often need the most support. As an agency led by two working Moms who navigated four maternity leaves in the course of two years, we believe that solid parental leave is the bare minimum a company should offer its employees, and that reducing that benefit will have detrimental outcomes both for those companies and the parents they’re impacting. That’s why our parental benefits are built to support our current and aspiring parents at all stages of parenthood.

Want to learn how to do right by your working parents? Here’s just some of what Kickstand offers ours:

  • Maternity/Paternity Leave: We offer 12 weeks off fully paid, as well as 6 weeks of part time work at full time pay to help new parents ease back into work. Kickstand gives new parents the agency to design their own leave during their first year with their new child, whether that’s within a year of childbirth, adoption, surrogacy, etc.
  • Working Parents Stipend: Kickstanders with minority dependents living in their home are eligible for a monthly stipend of $500 per month to help with things like childcare or other financial needs.
  • Family Planning Grant: We want Kickstanders to start a family on their own terms. All employees are eligible to receive financial support for processes like adoption, IVF, and other types of assisted reproductive technology. Furthermore, in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, employees can use the Family Planning Grant to help cover the costs of out-of-state travel required to access abortion care.

Just hear what some of our Kickstand parents have to say about these benefits:

“The Working Parent Stipend has been a huge asset for me and my family. It has helped pay for my daughter’s preschool for the last year. The benefits package at Kickstand was definitely a huge factor in my choosing to work here. Plus, my colleagues and managers have been so receptive and understanding about the parenting challenges I face.” – James Paasche, Senior Account Executive 

“It’s hard to imagine a workplace in which I’d feel more seen as a parent than I do at Kickstand. So many of our parental benefits were born from the difficult experiences our founders had trying to balance their own careers with the demands of parenthood. I’m so grateful to them, because they could easily have adopted a mentality of ‘It was hard for me, but I did it – and others can too.’ Instead they said, ‘Others shouldn’t have to do this, and the parents who work for us won’t have to.’ Kickstand never makes me choose between my career and feeling like a good mother, and there just aren’t words for how much that means to me.”  – Nycole Walsh, Research and Content Manager 

No offense to all those other businesses cutting parental leave left and right, but try having a couple of badass Moms at the helm of your company. Maybe you’ll even be able to make the Inc. 5000!

Want to join Team Kickstand? Check out our open positions and apply today!