The newly offered “Wellness Leave” provides up to 6 weeks of full salary for any PAE employee welcoming a child through birth, adoption or foster placement or dealing with a serious health condition of their own or a loved one.

PAE’s Director of Employee Experience, Shiloh Butterworth, says, “We are proud to offer an equitable leave benefit to help sustain our employees at home and at work.” Butterworth believes that encouraging men to take caregiving leave equal to that taken by women will help level the playing field when it comes to women’s career advancement.

STEM careers have long had a problem with recruiting and retaining female talent. A recent study from the University of Wisconsin found that half of the women trained to be engineers leave the field. PAE hopes to lead the industry towards a culture shift that allows families more flexibility and financial stability and avoids forcing employees to make a choice between career and family.

The new paid Wellness Leave benefit rounds out an already generous leave package that includes flexible paid time off and paid sabbatical offerings, among others.