Let’s face it, it’s not easy to balance work when starting a family. Historically, that has meant postponing, or even ending, the mother’s career, which has had a significant impact on women in the workforce and equality in the office. We get it, and we’ve been trying to approach a solution that will help even the playing field between men and women and eliminate the stigma of taking time off to raise newborns. With that in mind, I’m thrilled to announce a new parental leave policy in our US offices based on the idea that parenting is not a gender-specific event, but rather a shared responsibility.

Starting on January 1st of this year, US employees who are the legal parent of a newborn or newly adopted child can take 12 weeks fully paid leave. Further, since I know the transition back to work with a new child can be difficult, new parents will have the option to work part-time for an additional 8 weeks, while earning full-time pay. This policy takes a page from the handbook of countries such as Sweden – one of the most gender equal countries in the world – where men take a distinctly active role in raising children. Whether a mother, father, same sex or heterosexual couple, birth parent or adopter, we want all our employees to have the flexibility and time to bond during this important life event.

I’m excited to see that we already have Unity employees taking advantage of this new policy. Ville Vatén, a Product Director at Unity who’s currently on paternity leave, is a great example. “Kids are young only once and the time spent with them is extremely valuable,” according to Vatén. “Unity’s parental leave policy has been a big financial help for my wife and I during these months and has also contributed to our overall work-life balance, giving us both the flexibility to take charge of home when needed.”

We are committed to fostering an equal and inclusive work environment at Unity, and hope that this new policy will give all our employees the opportunity to pursue their career goals while balancing their personal life. While this specific policy extends to our US employees, Unity’s guidelines have been updated across all our offices globally, and we offer generous parental leave in countries where we operate. Spending time with newborns can be critical to the wellbeing of both children and their families, and I encourage all our new parents to take advantage of the policy.