Empathetic employers should focus on making paid leave transparent, accessible and affordable.

The Senate recently passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill focused on rebuilding roads and funding climate initiatives. Next up is a more debated venture: a social policy package that, among other policies, would include four weeks of paid family leave.

Previously, 12 weeks of leave was proposed and then left out, making the four weeks a small win for Democrats but one which still places the U.S. far behind every other developed nation. The burden of this gap—and the fact that paid leave is still at risk before the social spending package is signed into law—now falls on the American employer. And as we've seen in recent weeks, it's not necessarily something many corporations are prepared for.

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