Estée Lauder settled a dispute with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the agency’s first lawsuit targeting a parental leave policy that gave new mothers more time off than new fathers, in an agreement that signals a shift in how corporations and regulators respond to such policies.

The settlement, in which the company admitted no fault, included a $1 million payment to more than 200 male workers and policy changes at the company. What the New York-based cosmetics giant agreed to this month—and where the agency came down against the company—could be instructive to employers.