I need to give a shoutout to Automattic. Society does not make life easy for mothers who want to work. You hear tons of talk about inclusion of women in the workplace (from some), and from others you hear about the need to encourage people to have more kids. But as a working mom, the reality is I have see more talk than ACTION when it comes to supporting these goals. Automatic is the exception ❤️ Not only do they provide 6 months of maternity leave, but I just discovered they cover the cost of a caregiver while traveling and breastfeeding. We want to give our kids the best, and one of the most painful things about being a mom is having to sacrifice your child’s emotional well-being or health to support your own career. The guilt is real. This benefit is something more than a gym membership or expensing home office equipment; those are great, but this supports families, mothers, and kids on a whole different level. It helps with the hardest part of working motherhood: the guilt. It makes me feel supported. It makes me feel UNDERSTOOD, which is even rarer. This is what REAL pro-family, pro-women policies look like. It’s a real expense for Automattic, but it has more of an impact than any perk I’ve received. Thanks Matt Mullenweg
My wish for all Moms is the support from society that working is modeling what women can achieve. We need to alleviate the double standards; men should be able to be Mr Moms at home and women should be able to be ambitious without being questioned. It takes a village. ✨🤍
Stephanie Ospina each country has his own rules. US is not the center of the world. Maternity Leave Duration: Québec vs France Québec Maternity leave (benefits): 18 weeks under the basic plan (or 15 weeks under the special/particular plan) via the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (RQAP / QPIP). This is roughly 4 to 4.5 months. These weeks are reserved for the mother. Additional parental leave benefits are available afterward (shareable between parents), which can significantly extend the total time off: Basic plan: up to 32 parental weeks (or more with options) Special plan: fewer weeks but higher benefit rate Total possible paid leave for a family can reach around 50–55 weeks depending on the plan and how benefits are shared. Job-protected leave under Québec labour standards is longer (up to 18 months in some cases when combining maternity, parental, and extensions). France Maternity leave length depends on the number of children:
The distinction between talking about supporting working parents and actually designing work to support them is so important. As a working mom, I’ve come to think that the real test isn't simply whether an organization has a parental leave policy. It's what happens when you actually use it — and what happens when you come back. Do you have flexibility you can realistically use? Does your manager understand the transition? Can priorities be recalibrated? Is there room for the reality of childcare and a completely different life outside work? That gap between policy and lived experience is a big part of the work I care about in the working-parent space. I love seeing examples of companies getting more of it right.
There's a difference between a perk and a policy — a perk is nice to have, a policy changes what people can actually do with their careers. Fitting that it comes from the company that normalised distributed work before it was normal.
As a mother, this is incredibly powerful to read. So many working moms carry the constant weight of wanting to give their best to their children while also pursuing a career they care about. I love seeing a company recognize that supporting women in the workplace means supporting them as mothers, too. This is the kind of benefit that goes beyond a “perk,” it tells employees that their families matter.
As a working mother, its so refreshing to see an organization take practical steps to support and put in place policies that benefit working mums. Because we're usually expected to do it all with very little support. It's encouraging to see an organization taking meaningful action and recognizing that supporting mothers goes beyond maternity leave.
The interesting part isn't the perk itself; it's what the policy communicates: we understand that your life doesn't stop being complicated when you log into work. The best benefits don't just remove logistical friction, they remove the feeling that being a committed professional requires apologising for being a parent. That’s a much deeper form of inclusion
Congrats Automattic! Supporting parents isn’t just an employee perk, it’s an investment in the future. Because helping parents also means helping build the humans of tomorrow.
All. Of. This.
I could not agree more! ❤️