Parental Act: Morning commits to fully paid leave for the second parent!

Advancing equality between women and men!

That is the aim of the Parental Act, which seeks to grant one month’s fully paid leave to the second parent. This scheme has been signed by 105 company leaders who want to move the French social system forward on equality between women and men when it comes to maternity/paternity leave. Among them are companies such as Agricool, Blablacar, Lunchr, Pampa and… drum roll… Morning. That’s right. Let us explain.

The Parental Act – what’s it all about?

In concrete terms, this means that every company signing this act commits to granting its employees paid leave for the second parent, lasting a minimum of one month. Here is exactly what the opinion piece co-written with the company leaders signing the Parental Act states:

"- This scheme concerns the second parent, whatever their sex and status, because our society is evolving and family models are as varied as they are rich and diverse.

- It will run for a minimum period of one month, well beyond the eleven statutory days [...].

- It will be the responsibility of the leadership team to encourage the company’s staff to take this leave. [...] This is, for us, a fundamental right for every employee and a duty for the company.

- This scheme will be fully paid, because it is important that financial means should not be a deciding factor in being a present parent."

Given how far behind French legislation is on the subject, it is essential that certain players take on this pioneering role in social progress. Indeed, the law in France has not changed since 2002, the year paternity leave was introduced. Yet studies show "that it fosters paternal involvement and the lasting building of the father-child bond, thereby allowing a rebalancing of the mental load within the couple." Who better than companies to lead this fight for equality? That is why we are very proud to be part of this movement and to count among the signatories a few companies based at Morning (such as Too good to go and The Galion Project) that share this conviction.

Why is Morning joining the movement?

At Morning we are deeply committed to equality. To other values too, of course (such as trust, or freedom), but especially to equality between women and men.

Equal pay, equality in terms of responsibilities, equal opportunity, equality when it comes to how you dispose of your time at work and beyond it. So it was only natural that we decided to sign the Parental Act, to allow both parents to enjoy equal treatment in the face of an event so important and formative for them.

This decision seems all the more natural and logical to us given that we are a company that is part of the evolution of ways of working. That evolution involves several aspects, such as the evolution of the workspace (a subject we know rather well) but also, and above all, a shift in mindsets. Work should not be a constraint or a source of fear when a child is born – an event so important in the life of a woman or a man – but rather the opposite. The company must play a facilitating and caring role so that everyone can experience these life events in the best possible way.

As an aside, at Morning we have just introduced this leave for the first time with Clément, who has just had his first child. So congratulations to him. And congratulations to all the companies signing the Parental Act. T

hanks to this scheme, more than 19,000 people will be able to benefit from this fully paid second-parent leave. And if we do a very simple sum, because we did our maths, that means 19,000 other people who will be able to sleep a little more each night by asking the other parent to go and see to the baby. And for that alone, it’s a very good cause to support.

To join the movement and move mindsets and equality between women and men forward together, it all happens here!

To discover all our little habits and the small rituals that make up the company culture at Morning, it’s this way!