Supporting parents: a new Global Parental Leave Policy for all our people
5 March 2024
Over the course of one’s life, the decision to become parents and the resulting arrival of a child are unique events that bring about great changes: they are an extraordinary source of joy and love but also come with many challenges, some of them very demanding, the main one being how to establish a new balance both within the family unit and between managing children and work.
The question of how to achieve a good work-life balance is more relevant than ever and has received particular attention in recent years, from both a social and political perspective. One of the seventeen points that make up the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is “Decent work and economic growth”, which is closely linked to another point, namely “Gender Equality”.
These macro categories include important goals, some of them already partly or entirely achieved and others yet to be pursued: providing assistance to people with disabilities, economic measures to support parenting, specific provisions regarding agile working, the promotion of gender equality and, obviously, rules to protect both maternity and paternity.
In this respect, companies that employ parents also play a fundamental role in achieving the right balance, especially following the birth of a child. As a result, they have increasingly been considering their relationship with employees and seeking solutions that meet everyone's needs.
RESPECT FOR THE UNIQUENESS OF EVERY FAMILY COMES FIRST
For us, valuing and supporting our employees in their role as new parents means above all providing adequate support so that every family can experience this important time of life to the full.
As of 1 January 2024, we are therefore guaranteeing that all new parents working in our Group can enjoy a minimum paid parental leave of 12 week.
Our policy covers all the over 8,700 people in our Group, wherever they are, and we are committed to being a “parent-friendly” community, regardless of gender, marital status, sexual and affectional orientation. A community that welcomes and respects every family in their uniqueness.
In countries where parental leave is equal to or greater than that established for our community, local laws remain in force. But this is not always the case: in the US, for example, parental leave is not yet mandatory, and each State can administer it based on its internal laws.
To date, only 13 States have introduced laws that allow parents to suspend their work to take care of their newborn children. From 2024, under our new policy, regardless of the State in question, our employees will always be guaranteed 12 weeks leave on full pay.
Our new Policy is based on the basic concept of sharing the burden of care, which means that we put both parents on the same level and consider them equally important. We believe that only by committing ourselves not to distinguish between parents can we create a truly inclusive working environment that respects the needs of all employees and recognises the value of care in both the family and professional context.
A TEN-YEAR INCLUSION JOURNEY
This new Policy is the most recent milestone in a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion journey that we started over ten years ago to promote and strengthen equality among all our people: “Studies show that gender equality cannot be achieved in the workplace if the same equality is not found at home - explains Floriana Notarangelo, Group Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer - and that a birth or adoption can have a great impact on the advancement of gender equality”.
In 2013, we were among the first to introduce smartworking in Italy, a working model that expanded in 2020 with Work@Barilla, a project that provides an even more extensive and structured opportunity for our people to work remotely, making them easier for them to reconcile the demands of work with family and personal ones.
Over the years, we have achieved significant results in guaranteeing gender equality and enhancing female talent: today more than 40% of our executives and managers around the world are women. And in 2020 we eliminated all unjustifiable gender pay gaps globally, according to the "Equal pay for equal work” principle.
As a result, in 2021 we were the first Italian company to win the Catalyst Award for initiatives that have speeded up progress in the role of women in the workplace and increased the inclusion of all our employees.
Finally, in 2024, we scored 100 per cent for the tenth consecutive year in the Corporate Equality Index developed by the Human Rights Campaign, America's biggest association for the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights.
EXPERIENCING THE BIRTH OF A CHILD WITH JOY, AND RETURNING TO WORK WITH PEACE OF MIND
We believe that adequate support policies for new parents can make activities in the workplace easier, more efficient and effective, counteracting the child penalty gap and fostering a cultural change that can transform the most delicate phases of an adult's life into opportunities for employees and companies.
Says Maurizio Cannavacciuolo, Total Rewards & Organization VP:“Our Group has embarked on a long-term journey to provide its employees with a better work-life balance. We want to ensure they have the time they need to be with their children, but also the well-being that allows them to return to work with peace of mind”.
This path is perfectly consistent with our commitment to make quality the choice for a better life. “Our Global Parental Leave Policy - concludes Floriana Notarangelo - will not only have a positive impact on the lives of many families around the world, but we hope it will also inspire the communities and countries in which we operate”.
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