Nestlé Ramps Up Its Parental Leave Policy Worldwide

Photo Source: finweek.info

Add Nestlé to the list of companies who are ramping up their parental leave. 

On June 26, the multinational corporation announced that it would offer 14 weeks of paid parental leave. This and other benefits are included in what they call their “Maternity Protection Policy.” What’s great is that this new policy applies to all Nestlé sites worldwide; that’s 339,000 people in 197 countries, according to The Huffington Post.

In addition to the 14 weeks paid leave, primary caregivers (mothers, fathers and adoptive parents) can also take 12 more weeks of unpaid leave.

The new policy also includes: employment protection, flexible working hours and guaranteed access to breastfeeding rooms (which Nestlé has 197 of) during working hours.

“This policy will help us better support mothers and their families in our sites across the world and reinforces our support for exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of a child’s life,” said Peter Vogt, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Nestlé S.A.

The company targets that the new policy will be fully implemented at Nestlé workplaces across the world by 2018.

Earlier this year, we saw Vodafone, a multinational telecommunications company, announce that it’s now offering 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, along with shorter work hours for six months after their return to work.

Last month, British multinational conglomerate Virgin Management announced its offer of a full year of paid paternal leave, a decision which arose from the UK’s recent amended parental leave policy that now reaches up to 52 shared parental weeks. This, however, only covers employees of Virgin Management, which employs about 140 people in London and Geneva, and does not include other companies under the Virgin Group.

In the Philippines, maternity leave benefits reach up to 60 days. Paternity leave only allows a maximum of seven days.


Sources:
July 6, 2015. "Nestlé Introduces Progressive Maternity Leave Policy to Support Breastfeeding Mothers". popsugar.com
June 26, 2015. "Another Big Company Steps Up To Improve Maternity Leave". huffingtonpost.com