General Mills Inc. has made an announcement that will be lauded by growing families. It’s increasing the parental leave to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for a newborn.
Birth mothers are also getting an additional six to eight weeks of maternity leave, Bloomberg reported.
Originally, the company gave employees two weeks of parental leave and six weeks maternity leave.
The company, which is based in Minneapolis, is also giving other time off to handle family issues including two weeks to care for sick family and a longer bereavement leave.
The new leave structure will be for married couples, partners and adoptive parents, the Star Tribune reported. It will go into effect on Jan. 1, the newspaper reported.
About 13,000 salaried and non-union production workers, or 37 percent of the the company's global workforce will be eligible for the benefits, Bloomberg reported.
General Mills is following other companies.
Kellogg increased parental leave to 12-14 weeks depending on the parent. And Unilever increased its maternity leave to 16 weeks two years ago, Bloomberg reported.
Most workers still don't get paid maternity leave to care for newborns. In 2017, only 16 percent of workers in the U.S. got any paid family leave, the Star Tribune reported.
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