It's been a bad few weeks for U.S. national paid leave supporters. President Biden's social safety net package originally had a provision for 12 weeks of government-mandated paid family and medical leave. Then it was four weeks. Now the program seems all but dead, a development that ensures the country remains firmly at odds with most of the developed world.

In contrast, the level and diversity of standard statutory leave mandated by governments around the world has expanded considerably in recent years. In many parts of Europe, for example, you can expect to find paid provisions for sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, adoptive leave, parental leave, carer's leave and bereavement leave.

This might sound like a lot of leave to be granting to employees as standard, but this is fundamental to how societies and social systems are created. That said, even within Europe, the specific nature of each country's statutory policy will vary. In Sweden, for example, responsibility for sick leave pay is split between the company and the government.

Gaps in leave policies abound

Still, it's not just U.S. employers that find it difficult to come to grips with this issue when recruiting remote overseas employees. Even some countries that rank high in family-friendly policies have sizable holes in their statutory leave policies.

In Ireland, for example, while employers are obliged to ensure their staff take a minimum of 20 days' leave each year, the government is only just introducing statutory sick pay. In New Zealand, which lately has appeared as something of a beacon of policy enlightenment, there have been leading efforts around domestic violence leave and miscarriage leave. However, paternity leave is unpaid and just two weeks is offered as standard.

Further, in most European states, the legal definition of family will typically refer to a child, partner or spouse only — meaning that it can be difficult to take carer's leave, for example, if it's another family member that requires care. This is not necessarily due to outdated attitudes but rather a need for some nations to update the language used in legislation so that it better reflects the needs of contemporary society.

The onus is on businesses

Wherever you are in the world, legislative change takes time and is at the mercy of myriad different external factors. Governments with progressive attitudes towards statutory benefits — like the current U.S. administration — may find their efforts scuppered by on-the-ground political realities. Others may simply lack the cash to implement their wishes.

Instead, future improvements in the scope and provision of leave must be driven by the global business community. In the era of global employment, it's right that businesses should look after all of their employees and treat them fairly, regardless of where they're based. There are also many types of benefits that, while statutory in some countries but not others, could have pronounced benefits for all. Improving paid paternity leave provisions, for example, could help to reduce workplace discrimination and serve a company's broader environmental, social and governance initiative.

Benchmarking and best practices

The best thing every global employer can do is assess the full range of relevant statutory benefits across every country in which they employ people, and then hand-pick the best ones to apply across their entire workforce. For example, at Boundless, we've gone with France's statutory provision of 41 annual leave days (including bank holidays), so wherever in the world our employees are, they'll almost certainly have more annual leave than their neighbors!

Of course, all benefits carry a cost, and it may not be possible to offer the absolute maximum leave across every criteria. Employers must adhere to the statutory minimums in each country – that's non-negotiable and you'll face legal consequences and possibly fines if you fail to comply. Beyond this, we encourage employers to think in terms of benchmarking, i.e. what will make you a good, or great, employer in a country, as opposed to just delivering the minimum required.

If you're going to choose just one form of leave to excel in, annual leave is a good one, as this allows employees to use leave flexibly, for holidays as well as other life commitments. And if your team operates as a single, global entity, you may need to rethink how leave is approved internally. For example, in the U.K. and Ireland, it's common for employees to request two weeks off, whereas in the U.S., employees rarely take more than a weeks' leave at once. If you have managers in one country overseeing workers in another, they need to understand these cultural variances.

Finally, remember that while paid leave should be a core part of any benefits package, it's not the only provision that prospective employees are likely to be interested in, nor the only one that may carry country-specific statutes. Both pensions and healthcare provision should be at the top of the list wherever you're looking to recruit (the latter is essential for any U.S. employer), and you'll also find a whole range of idiosyncratic nuances from country to country in terms of what employees expect as standard. These benefits may not be government-mandated, but if you don't offer them then you could be in for a lengthy recruitment process.