Ad Age Announces "Ask About It" Family Leave Campaign

NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ad Age, in partnership with Facebook, announced the launch of the "Ask About It" social media campaign (#AskAboutIt) that encourages every employee—from assistant to CEO—to ask their employers and HR departments about their company's parental leave policy.

The campaign is spearheaded by The List, a group of 31 advertising and marketing executives brought together by Ad Age and Facebook in early 2019 to identify and address key issues in the industry.

A study conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of The List found that 75% of workers included parental leave in the top 3 most important benefits in the workplace, while 91% of businesses defined paid parental leave as "good for profitability."

Fatherly CEO Mike Rothman, also a member of The List, shared that most of the people who ask about family leave do so after it's too late—either after they've been hired at a company or are years into employment. Rothman also identified a common stigma: the perception that taking parental leave indicates a lack of commitment to one's company or personal career.

"The campaign's mission is to create broader awareness around both the ethical and business imperatives for companies to provide better benefits to working parents," said Rothman.

Members of The List have personally seen the benefits of talking about parental leave in their own companies, that ultimately inspired them to launch the Ask About It campaign.

Thai Randolph, The List member and GM and EVP of Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud network, didn't ask about her company's parental leave policy until she became pregnant.

"Even as an executive of a company who was running all of the operations, I never really thought about what the parental leave package looked like," Randolph said previously.

"Have a conversation with the executives in your company. If you're an executive, have a conversation with your team."

A dedicated Ask About It campaign website provides employees—regardless of rank or title—the knowledge, data and insights necessary to have a productive conversation with HR managers or executives.

"Regardless of where organizations are on the journey to create more positive environments for working parents, it starts with awareness," Rothman said.

In having these conversations and raising awareness, The List hopes to help people strike a healthier balance between their professional and personal lives.

For more information about #AskAboutIt, please contact Heidi Waldusky at [email protected] or visit letsaskaboutit.com. 

For more information about The List, visit adagethelist.com, https://www.facebook.com/AdAgeTheList/, and https://www.instagram.com/AdAgeTheList/

SOURCE Ad Age