151 the scandinavian superstore best known for its readytoassemble furniture is also making headlines for its newly unveiled parental leave program ikeas us division announced in a statement tuesday it was offering up to four months of paid parental leave to salaried and hourly workers both mothers and fathers and adoptive and foster parents lars petersson the head of ikea in the us said the company believes that time with family and friends is so important for a healthy worklife balance and a happy and productive workforce this benefit which applies to all parents will give our coworkers the opportunity to spend more time with their families when welcoming a child our coworkers are our most important resource which is why we continue to invest in helping them reach their dream petersson added facebook founder mark zuckerberg to take 2 months of paternity leave us is only industrialized nation without paid maternity leave here are some companies with the best paid parental leave policies ikeas new family leave program has also left many wondering if this could be a signal of major changes or a new standard for parental leave for many families in the us as the the country continues to remain the only industrialized nation that does not offer paid maternity leave on the national level currently in the us some workers are legally permitted to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave but there remains no federal mandatory paid leave policy for new mothers and fathers according to the us department of labor the us department of labor said in a report last year that only 12 percent of us private sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employer california new jersey and rhode island are currently the only three states to offer paid family and medical leave according to the national conference of state legislatures beginning in 2018 new york will also offer paid family leave the programs in all four states are funded through employeepaid payroll taxes and administered through the states disability programs according to the ncsl ikea joins a growing list of companies including bank of america spotify and netflix who are often seen in the business and tech worlds as offering generous parental leave programs netflix for example is offering unlimited paid parental leave for salaried employees for up to a year meanwhile bank of america provides full and parttime employees with up to 16 weeks paid leave after working there for a year ikeas revamped family leave policy will go into effect on jan 1 2017