General Mills Announces Expanded Maternal, Parental Leave

TWIN CITIES, MN — Minnesota-based General Mills Thursday announced an expansion of its existing U.S. employee benefits, including an industry-leading leave policy for new parents. The company said it's "modernizing" benefits to better align with the needs of "an ever-evolving workforce."

Effective Jan. 1, 2019, General Mills is increasing fully paid time off for new birth mothers to 18-20 weeks, and parental leave (for fathers, partners and adoptive parents) to 12 weeks. The company said it's also improving caregiver leave, bereavement and short-term disability benefits.

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• Caregiver Leave: General Mills will offer caregivers a two-week paid leave for the care of immediate family members with a serious health condition.
• Bereavement: Up to four weeks off for employees following the death of an immediate family member.
• Short-term Disability: An expansion of the previous plan, employees will receive 100 percent paid time for up to eight weeks and 65 percent of pay for up to 26 weeks.

General Mills officials say these new benefits apply to both salaried and non-union production workers in the U.S. and are intended to help employees live happier, healthier lives both at work and at home.

Photo Illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images