Quick-to-read HR news & insights
From recruiting and retention to company culture and the latest in HR tech, HR Brew delivers up-to-date industry news and tips to help HR pros stay nimble in today’s fast-changing business environment.
Moms First, a nonprofit advocating for the interests of mothers in the workplace and culture, recently launched an AI-powered tool to help working parents navigate New York State’s paid family leave benefits.
The tool, called PaidLeave.ai, was built in partnership with Novy.ai, which builds “future forward products,” and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Moms First, told HR Brew she initially reached out to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for guidance on the project.
Saujani said she believes the tool will be useful not only for working parents, but also HR professionals seeking to advise their employees on the paid leave application process.
Seeking simplicity. Saujani noted that working parents may be navigating a number of different systems when they apply for paid family leave—a New York State employee could receive a certain amount of paid leave from their employer, for example, but still be eligible for state benefits, which provide up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave (amounting to 67% of a worker’s pay, up to a cap).
The tool features a chatbot that will answer commonly asked questions, such as whether a worker can take state paid leave and employer paid leave, and provide links to government sources.
An example of a question and response from the PaidLeave.ai website.
It also guides workers to the forms they need to fill out, but stops short of completing the process for them, Saujani said. Eventually, Moms First would like to roll out the tool in all 13 states where paid family leave is currently offered. The hope is that by boosting utilization among working parents in the states where they’re eligible, Moms First can help make the case for a more robust federal solution.
“The uptake of these benefits in states that offer them is really important, because it…helps make the case for federal paid leave,” Saujani said.
Interest among HR pros. Saujani said her team didn’t fully anticipate the amount of interest they’ve seen from employers and HR professionals since launching PaidLeave.ai on December 5. Moms First has heard of the resource circulating through company Slack channels, with HR seeing time-saving potential and opportunities to help answer employees’ questions about leave benefits, she added.
“It’s gonna save HR professionals time, because they’re gonna be able to navigate these benefits faster, and get answers for their employees,” Saujani said, noting some New York employers rely entirely on the state to administer paid leave.
Ultimately, she suggested, helping more working parents enroll in paid family leave could have positive impacts on employer retention going forward. Research has shown first-time mothers who take paid leave are more likely to return to their same employer than those who take unpaid leave or no leave.