Chemicals firm Henkel has introduced fully paid gender neutral parental leave for its 50,000 employees worldwide.
The firm’s employees in 80 countries will have the opportunity to take up to eight weeks of fully paid parental leave. The length of the leave is based on the caregiver role as opposed to their gender or biological parent status.
The leave is presented as Henkel’s minimum standard and will complement existing local practices and regulations, promoting greater gender equity in countries where parental leave is lower than others.
Henkel decided to establish a universal standard that applies to all caregivers due to its recognition of how often specific family types, such as single fathers, adoptive parents and surrogacy parents, are excluded from this type of leave. It is also part of its commitment to equity and equal parenting and childcare for all parents, including adoptive, foster, surrogacy and LGBTQ+ parents.
Carsten Knobel, chief executive officer of Henkel, said: “This initiative sends a strong signal to all our employees and underscores our unwavering commitment to fostering a more inclusive culture and more gender equity. With this new approach, the business demonstrates a firm commitment to its diversity, equity, and inclusion ambitions by taking tangible actions to promote equal access to opportunities consistently around the world.”
Sylvie Nicol, executive vice president human resources, infrastructure and sustainability at Henkel, added: “Through this initiative, we want to support parents and challenge traditional gender roles, enabling everyone to participate equally in childcare. However, addressing this inequality is not the sole objective of our new global standard. It also positions us to meet the expectations of the future workforce.”
Henkel also offers employees performance-related rewards, flexible working, life assurance, an employee share scheme, employee recognition programmes, healthcare, wellbeing and retirement benefits.