Netflix, the Los Gatos-based company that scored a huge PR victory with the announcement of its 'unlimited' maternity and paternity leave for new parents, now faces backlash from its reportedly under-appreciated DVD workers and team.
The company, which has of course shifted the focus of its business towards streaming content, began as a DVD-by-mail service conducted through the web. However, it's retained that division for lots of titles which aren't available to stream, as devotees of the mail-order service know well.
And now, in the wake of the HR/PR big announcement, The Associated Press reports that many employees of CEO Reed Hastings' legacy business are up in arms.
“Netflix is leaving workers who could benefit the most from a generous paid leave policy behind and that is offensive,” Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of the women’s rights group UltraViolet, said on behalf of the compay's 450 temporary, part and full-time employees.
Thought Netflix's DVD division is contracting, it notably remains profitable. But it's left, much like its services, in the shadow of the company's streaming technology.
“A worker’s ability to care for their family should not be dependent on what department they work in,” Mia Moore, Democracy for America’s chief of staff, wrote to the AP.
Still, it probably isn't too surprising that there are exceptions to a deal that sounded, in the first place, a little too good to be true.
Previously: Netflix Offers 'Unlimited' Maternity And Paternity Leave For New Parents