The WTA announced sweeping new parental protections on Thursday, with over 300 players becoming eligible to receive paid parental leave for the first time in the pro tennis organization’s history.
Despite their year-round schedule, WTA players are technically independent contractors, a status that previously limited their access to benefits.
Players can now apply for up to 12 months of leave for carrying a child, while athletes who become parents through surrogacy, adoption, or partner pregnancy are eligible for a two-month leave.
The program also allots grants to support fertility treatments, including egg freezing and IVF.
All athletes who have competed in at least eight WTA tournaments, including four at a minimum 250 level, over the last 12 months are eligible to receive benefits. As an alternative, players contesting at least 24 WTA events over the last 36 months, including 12 at the 250 level, will also be eligible.
Under those requirements, the WTA calculates that 320 current athletes now qualify for paid parental leave.
Details surrounding the benefit amount were not disclosed. But the program will be retroactive to…
