Beyond parental leave: building a family-friendly culture at Dovetail

Starting a family while building your career can feel like an impossible balancing act. The sleepless nights, doctor appointments, and constant juggling of responsibilities often clash with traditional workplace expectations. Many professionals, particularly in fast-paced startup environments, wonder how becoming a parent might impact their career or balance between family and work.

At Dovetail, we believe that supporting our team members as whole people—including their roles as parents and caregivers—isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also what makes us stronger as a company. Our approach goes far beyond checking boxes with standard parental leave policies. We’ve built a culture where parents can thrive professionally while being present for their families.

This isn’t just about generous time off—though we have that too. It’s about creating an environment where flexibility, trust, and outcomes matter more than rigid schedules.

Let’s explore how our policies work in practice and hear from Dovetail parents who’ve experienced this support firsthand.

Why Dovetail works differently for parents

We recognize that life doesn’t happen in neat compartments, and neither should work.

Comprehensive parental leave that actually works

We respect that every family’s journey is different. This flexibility means someone could take part of their leave right as they welcome a child and save the rest to ease into the return-to-work process or to bond during a partner’s parental leave. In situations of pregnancy or child loss, we offer compassionate leave to help families navigate recovery and grief without additional stress, in line with Dovetail’s Paid Parental Leave.

Inclusivity is core to our approach: all parents, regardless of gender or caregiver status, are eligible, fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and supported during important life moments. We offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave at 100 percent base salary, available to all parents regardless of how their family grows—whether through birth, adoption, or surrogacy—and an additional 8 weeks of recovery time for birthing parents and primary caregivers for a total of 20 weeks. This isn’t just a number on paper; it’s a genuine investment in our people during one of life’s most significant transitions.

For those returning after taking the full 20 weeks, our Return to Work Support program eases the transition back. You can choose to work 60 percent of your regular hours for four weeks at full pay, or 80 percent of your hours for eight weeks at full pay. This bridging support recognizes that jumping straight back into full-time work isn’t always realistic or beneficial.

Flexibility as the foundation

Our office-first culture fosters collaboration and connection, while still recognizing the importance of flexibility. By focusing on the quality of your contributions rather than just time spent at your desk, we ensure you can thrive at work while balancing your family’s needs.

This flexibility extends to daily life. Need to leave early for a school pickup? No problem. Have a sick child who needs care? We’ve got you covered. The key is communication and ensuring your work gets done, not micromanaging when or where it happens.

Real stories from Dovetail parents

Claire: Planning ahead with confidence

Currently expecting her first child in October, Claire is planning to take the full 12 months available (combining paid leave with additional time off), but with a flexible mindset.

“As a first-time parent, I don’t know how much is going to be a good amount of time, but my thought process is, take the whole lot, and then if I want to come back early, I can,” Claire explains. Her team supports this approach, with the people team ready to cover her responsibilities without bringing in temporary replacement staff. This arrangement means Claire can return early if she chooses without disrupting any plans.

The support has already been evident throughout her pregnancy. “You have to go to quite a lot of appointments through pregnancy, and [the team have] been super accommodating in letting me go in the middle of the afternoon to a scan or a midwife appointment.”

After her parental leave, Claire will transition back into work through the Return to Work Support program. “The goal of it is to ease your transition back into the workplace,” she notes, appreciating that Dovetail recognizes the adjustment period parents need.

Cheri: Navigating two children and three years of support

Cheri joined Dovetail while going through IVF with her wife. The company’s parental leave policy was actually a deciding factor in accepting her offer. “I was interviewing, I’d been offered the role, and [parental leave] was a key point to my acceptance,” she recalls.

When Cheri first joined, the policy offered 12 weeks of leave but was increased to up to 20 weeks, when she was starting her family. For her first child, Cheri took seven weeks off and then returned part-time, using parental leave for her days off. “One day a week was lovely,” she remembers.

Her second child presented different challenges. “That baby turned out to be a very high-need reflux baby. It was horrifically hard, and I ended up taking 4 and a half months off, the entire amount of leave in one hit.” The flexibility to adjust her plans based on her family’s actual needs, rather than what she’d initially anticipated, made all the difference.

Now, with two young children, Cheri has crafted a schedule that works for her family. She leaves the office by 4:30pm for pickup, but she’s learned to maximize her productivity by starting early and catching up in the evenings. “I’m generally up before everyone and will catch up with messages from San Francisco… then I’m offline until I get everyone out the door. I’m back online about 9:30ish, and I’m offline at 4:30. Then I’m back online usually at 8:00 and catch up.”

Yonas: Daily flexibility for ongoing parental responsibilities

With a nine-year-old and a 14-year-old, Yonas represents the reality that parental responsibilities don’t end when kids start school. His mornings begin with a 45-minute school drop-off, meaning he typically arrives at the office around 9:30 or 10am.

“I don’t have an official arrangement with my manager, Sascha, but he knew when I joined that I needed flexibility to drive them in the morning,” Yonas explains. This informal but understood flexibility is core Dovetail’s trust-based culture.

The flexibility extends to unexpected situations. “Sometimes there could be an emergency, like they fall at school and have to be picked up. As long as we let somebody know in the business—it doesn’t have to be the People team, just your team member—it’s fine.”

This freedom is reciprocal. Yonas extends similar flexibility to his own team members, understanding that parental responsibilities are ongoing and unpredictable. “I give my team the freedom to run an errand for a child during the day for a few hours and get back to work maybe after 6 or 7pm, after the kids go to sleep.”

The key, as Yonas notes, is outcome-focused work: “At the end of the day, as long as we meet the deadline for certain projects, people are quite reasonable.”

The culture behind the policies

Generous policies mean nothing without a culture that genuinely supports their use. Our managers and People team understand that supporting parents isn’t just about approving time off requests. It’s about proactive communication and recognizing that a parent who feels supported will be more engaged and productive than one who’s constantly stressed about competing priorities.

Most importantly, we measure success by outcomes and contributions, not by hours logged or physical presence in an office. This fundamental shift in how we think about work makes everything else possible.

Building the future of family-friendly workplaces

Dovetail’s approach to supporting working parents isn’t just about being a good employer—it’s about recognizing that getting the best out of people means understanding that work is only one part of the equation. When we support our team members’ roles as parents, we get more engaged, loyal, and ultimately more productive employees.

Our policies will continue to evolve as we learn from our team members’ experiences and as the needs of working families change. We’re committed to staying ahead of the curve, not because it’s trendy, but because it’s foundational to who we are as a company.

Ready to join a company that understands there’s more to life than work? Explore our current openings and discover how you can build your career while building your family at Dovetail.