Dive Brief:

• Paid employee leave programs are nothing new, but they are adapting to changing workforces, according to Bloomberg BNA.

• Today's workers don't want their leave benefits rigid, to be dictated to them. Rather, they want a hand in expanding and crafting benefits, so they better match lifestyle patterns.

• Also, a recent WorldatWork survey found that close to 90% of participating employers said if you want to attract top talent and boost engagement, flexibility in creating time off programs is required.

Dive Insight:

Lenny Sanicola, senior practice leader at WorldatWork, a nonprofit human resources association, told Bloomberg BNA that some employers go beyond current federal, state and local guidelines and laws when building paid leave initiatives.

"Organizations understand they can no longer be competitive if they don't get creative with their own paid time off benefits. For many employees, paid time off is more important than other traditional pay and benefits," Sanicola said.

Among the most popular benefits trending today are paid parental leave, along with increasing PTO as a reward to high-performing employees. It's also a good idea, he told Bloomberg, to use surveys or focus groups to directly ask employees what type of paid leave really matters to them.