Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hardly seems like the person who would take some time off but when he does, it has to be something special.
As everyone may have heard by now, Zuckerberg is all set to take a paternity leave as he and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan get ready for the arrival of their newest clan member, a baby girl.
He announced his time-off via Facebook last Friday.
Priscilla and I are starting to get ready for our daughter's arrival. We've been picking out our favorite childhood...
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Friday, November 20, 2015
"This is a very personal decision, and I've decided to take two months of paternity leave when our daughter arrives," Zuckerberg said in the post. The couple had initially announced the coming of their new baby girl back in July.
The paternity leave angle seems pretty much common for husbands only that the Facebook founder decided to take only half of the company’s regular benefit which is actually up to four months of paid maternity or paternity leave.
The benefit is seen as one of the generous ones offered if based on U.S. standards considering only about 12% of American employees get such a benefit based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And while Zuckerberg could technically avail up to four months, it seems that the Facebook CEO feels that two months with their upcoming child is more than enough to be with the rare moment.
The whole issue doesn’t seem to be centered on Zuckerberg’s choice of opting to take only half of the benefit, but more on the true essence of taking paternity leaves.
With Facebook offering quite a generous similar number of leaves (four months), the New York Times reported that fathers over there only take just a bit more than two months to spend time with their wives in welcoming their soon-to-be-born children.
According to CBC News, it seems unusual to see high profile executives taking paternity leaves. However and as Zuckerberg points out, this is personal and important considering the he and his wife had already suffered three miscarriages.
With the 31-year-old Zuckerberg out for about two months or so, it remains to be seen who will be in charge in his absence. When word of his planned leave came out, stock investors weren’t exactly understanding with the reason behind it, resulting in the dip of Facebook stocks by 0.6 percent that day.
