Nestlé has launched a global Maternity Protection Policy for its employees worldwide - one of the most progressive programmes of its kind in the industry.
The new policy reinforces our leading position as a Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company and enhances the support to employees in general and to new mothers and primary care givers, and their families in particular.
The policy, which is based on the ILO Maternity Protection Convention, establishes minimum standards that must be implemented at Nestlé workplaces across the world by 2018.
Nestlé Lanka currently offers 84 paid working days (approximately 17 weeks) as maternity leave to all female employees, 3 weeks more than the minimum standards set out in the above document. Female employees are given the opportunity to extend the maternity leave by another 6 weeks upon request, remunerated according to Company policy guidelines.
Furthermore, in order to support fathers with their new addition to the family, all permanent male employees are granted paternity leave of 5 working days, within 3 months of child birth or adoption.
In addition, female employees are allowed two breast-feeding breaks, not less than one hour each, for nursing their baby.
The new policy, to be implemented within the next 3 years, will require the company to offer at least 14 weeks paid leave to all employees who are primary caregivers of newborns including male employees and adoptive parents. They will also be given the right to extend this leave for up to half a year, again remunerated according to local regulations. The new policy also includes employment protection, flexible working arrangements, and access to breastfeeding rooms during working hours in sites with more than 50 employees.