Pilot Flying J is expanding its paid parental leave benefits for employees.
The company is joining others in the U.S. in expanding its parental leave benefits by offering six weeks of paid leave for both new mothers and fathers.
The company said both full and part-time employees who've worked at least one year with the company and 1,250 hours in the past 12 months will be eligible for the benefits.
"We strongly believe that paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers is a much-needed benefit, especially for hourly workers in the retail and convenience store industries and we are proud to provide this benefit to our team members,” Pilot's president Ken Parent said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of March 2018, just 17% of all workers had access to paid family leave. In the retail industry, where many employees are part-time and hourly, this number was even lower at 7%. In addition, 7 in 10 fathers in the U.S. that took parental leave only used 10 days of leave or less.