Dollar General adds parental leave, adoption benefits

Another retailer is expanding its family-friendly benefits as employers get competitive in finding and keeping talent in a tightened job market.

Dollar General, the Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based retailer with 130,000 employees across the country, announced Thursday it’s introducing a new parental leave policy and adoption benefits. The parental leave benefit includes two weeks of paid time off for all eligible full-time and part-time employees, and eight weeks of paid time off for birth mothers — two weeks of qualifying paid parental leave and an additional six weeks of qualifying paid maternity leave.

Additionally, the company will provide employees up to $4,000 in adoption assistance. Benefits are subject to employees meeting certain eligibility requirements, but the retailer did not expand on those requirements when asked.

Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg

Dollar General’s move reflects its “investment in its people as a competitive advantage,” says CEO Todd Vasos. “The paid parental leave and adoption assistance benefits will support our employees and their families with financial assistance during the exciting time of welcoming a child.”

The discounter is the latest retailer to bolster its paid leave policy and adoption benefits. Earlier this year, Walmart added a $5,000 adoption benefit and enhanced its time off benefits for new parents. It now provides full-time hourly associates in the U.S. with 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave. Salaried associates will also receive six weeks of paid parental leave.

Starbucks also announced that its store associates who are birth mothers will be entitled to six weeks of paid leave at 100%, up from 67% average pay previously, as well as 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Non-birth parents (including fathers, spouses and foster and adoptive parents) can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

Paid parental leave is on a five-year upward trend, with more employers each year adding paid maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave, according to the latest employer research from the Society for Human Resource Management. Between 20% and 30% of employers now offer some form of leave policy, SHRM says.