Netflix's maternity leave policy further cements its image as a great company to work for

Netflix has announced that it will give "unlimited" maternity and paternity leave to its employees in the first year of their child's life.

In part, the company's chief talent officer explained in a blog post, the move is aimed at maintaining its competitiveness by keeping the "most talented individuals in their field".

We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances.

Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed. We’ll just keep paying them normally, eliminating the headache of switching to state or disability pay.

• Tawni Cranz, Netflix’s chief talent officer

The new maternity policy adds to Netflix's long-standing "freedom and responsibility" strategy which means the company does not track holiday days, sick days, mornings off for dentist appointments etc.

Daniel Jacobson, Netflix's vice president for engineering, explained in 2013 that the idea, which subsequently inspired Richard Branson to do the same at Virgin, is to nurture a sense of trust at the company.

"Tracking people’s time for vacation, sick, holidays, etc. just does not make sense," Jacobson explained on his blog. "Track the results of the output, not the amount of time that it takes to execute it (or even which hours of the day were used to complete it)."

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