'Misogynistic and inhumane': Internet slams Elon Musk after he slashes Twitter parental leave to just 2 weeks
SAN FRANSICO, CALIFORNIA: Since becoming Twitter's CEO, Elon Musk has made a slew of contentious decisions and his most recent one has an impact on new parents. The 51-year-old Musk, who bought Twitter in a highly leveraged deal worth $44 billion, has reportedly slashed the company’s paid parental leave policy from 20 weeks to just 14 days, according to internal documents.
The New York Times Tech Reporter, Kate Conger, who reviewed internal documents, stated that the San Francisco-based micro-blogging platform has altered its previous policy to “whatever is required by law in the region where the employees work, along with a ‘top up’ of two weeks of leave.” There is no national policy for paid family leave but under the Family and Medical Leave Act, some employees get "unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons" for up to 12 weeks.
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How many US states provide special medical leaves?
Musk's shift in the previous policy has pushed Twitter employees who want more paid leaves at the whim of their home state. There are just 12 US states that provide some kind of paid family and medical leave. In the company's home state of California, the state offers up to eight weeks of leave. Other states, including New York and New Jersey, permit up to 26 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in addition to 12 weeks of paid leave. In this list, Rhode Island has the most generous policy, where employees are entitled to 30 weeks of paid leave, according to the NY Post.
New: Twitter used to offer employees 20 weeks of paid parental leave. That’s being changed to whatever is required by law in the region where the employees work, along with a “top up” of two weeks of leave, per internal docs.
— kate conger (@kateconger) April 25, 2023
As soon as Twitter’s internal decisions were exposed, Musk received a furious internet backlash, with many users blasting him for being “misogynistic and inhumane.” “Two weeks! What do they expect in 2 weeks and the child will be going to the bathroom on his own? As an ex-tweep and as a parent I cannot relate to this,” one user wrote while the second user said, “As a former Twitter employee that oversaw US LOA (leave of absence) and rolled out the 20-week policy in 2016, this is DEPRESSING.”
As a former Twitter employee that oversaw US LOA and rolled out the 20 week policy in 2016, this is DEPRESSING. I am so sorry to hear of the amazing policies/programs that are being dismantled.
— Tina Forrest (@twauston) April 27, 2023
Two weeks ! What do they expect 2 weeks and the child will be going to the bathroom on his own.?!..as an ex tweep and as a parent I cannot relate to this.
— Soumya Parmar (@soumyaparmar) April 28, 2023
He's obsessed with raising the birth rate. He's rather less concerned about what happens once they're born. https://t.co/L2rV22fWTj
— Arkenor (@Arkenor) April 26, 2023
Misogynistic and anti-worker.
— EndCitizensUnited 🍑Indict Trump Javanka McConnell (@people_NOTcorps) April 26, 2023
Anti-society. Inhumane.
Toll for Musk the greedy sociopath until he throws you away, and rakes in the profits of your sacrifice forever after. You can be lonely, penniless, and disillusioned until death.
Elon Musk is the Grinch. But worse.
'Still love the smartest man on the planet?'
Slamming Musk for his ever-growing family, the third user asserted, 'He's obsessed with raising the birth rate. He's rather less concerned about what happens once they're born.' “Still love the smartest man on the planet?” another user said sarcastically. Dawn Huckelbridge, the founding director of Paid Leave for All, also reflected on the decision and told Daily Mail that 'Paid leave is a proven boost to business and bottom lines, and a lifeline to working families. But this decision is more proof that we can't rely on the private sector to ever solve this problem — we need a federal program to guarantee paid leave for all working people.’
'Ask any person who's given birth what their health and life is like two weeks after, or what their baby needs and you'll realize this is a slap in the face.' Huckelbridge added. Tech companies have a history of being among the most generous employers in the private sector when it comes to providing parental leave that goes above and beyond what is legally required. According to Google's parental leave policy, moms can work while spending 24 weeks bonding with their infant while fathers can take up to 16 weeks off. Etsy, a Brooklyn-based online retailer, provides its employees with a generous leave policy that includes 26 weeks of paid time off.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.