People are at the heart of everything we do, and to further support our European colleagues, we’ve improved our parental leave policy. The new measures were implemented off the back of listening sessions with employees and will help to ensure new parents have the time they need to build that crucial bond with their children before coming back to work.
From November 2021, all primary caregivers will see paid leave increase from 16 to 26 weeks with paid leave for secondary caregivers increasing from 2 to 4 weeks. To help returning parents stay connected and offer more flexibility when transitioning back to work, we’re also introducing an enhanced ‘Return to Work’ programme which will enable employees in their first 8-weeks back to receive 100% salary for 75% working time.
We reached out to Elena in our Logistics team, and soon-to-be new mother, to hear how the new policies will make a positive difference to her family as she embarks on her parental leave.
"As an expectant mother, returning to work in such short period was a concern for me. So, I'm delighted that AB InBev has strengthened its parental leave policy based on colleague feedback. This will have a number of benefits; for infant mental health, research shows that the first year is critical to their development. The change in policy will now allow me to care, bond, and build a relationship with my newborn baby. Each day we spend together will be better for both of us!
"It will also provide my family with peace of mind; we have applied for a place at our local creche but based on the previous policy, there would have been a 2-month gap between me having to return to work and the daycare spot becoming available. With the increased maternity weeks, I know that I still can be financially safe as well as have the possibility to return to work after.
"It's reassuring to know too that when I return from my maternity leave, my workload will be staggered to help me ease back into working life whilst allowing me to finish at a time which allows me to do the creche pick-up and spend quality time with little one in the evening, with no need to be torn between baby and laptop.
"I think the updated parental leave policy will really help parents in achieving a happy work-life balance after returning to work."
The extended policy represents an important part of AB InBev’s wider Diversity & Inclusion commitments: to become a more inclusive workplace, to work towards gender parity, to improve work-life balance and to strengthen the partnership between the company and its employees.