Nestlé Malaysia introduces 6-month child adoption and primary caregiver leaves

Nestlé Malaysia has introduced a maternity policy for adoptive parents and primary caregivers, providing them with up to six months of leave, the company said in a press release.

This is part of the its efforts to enhance its overall parental leave benefits in the country, including maternity and paternity leave benefits, in line with its commitment towards diversity and inclusion.

The new Child Adoption Leave will provide employees who become new adoptive parents with a minimum of 98 days of paid leave, and the right to extend it for 82 more days of unpaid leave.

At the same time, employees who become primary caregivers to newborns will also enjoy the same parental leave, under Nestlé's new Primary Caregiver Leave.

According to the company, a "primary caregiver" is any man or woman employee who has taken on primary responsibilities for the care of a child, including grandchildren.

Apart from these two leave schemes, enhancements have been made to the company's Parental Leave Policy, whereby new mothers are entitled to paid and unpaid maternity leave of up to 180 days and new fathers are offered a week of paternity leave.

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On the consideration behind these initiatives, Shahzad Umar, Executive Director, Group Human Resources, Nestlé (Malaysia), said: "We understand that being a new parent can be a very challenging experience to adapt to, which is why we explored avenues to better support all new mothers and fathers at the start of their parenthood journey.

"We are very proud to be at the forefront for one of the more progressive parental leave packages in the industry, which also now also covers adoptive parents and primary caregivers.

"We hope that through these enhanced benefits, more parents will be encouraged to pursue their careers whilst also being able to spend more quality time with their families."