Diageo is among a group of almost 200 companies urging The United States Congress to create a national paid family and medical leave program.for all working people, reports The Washington Post. Business and brands, of varying sectors and sizes, have signed an open letter to Congress in support of a national paid leave policy.
Diageo joins leading companies such as Patagonia, Etsy, Levi Strauss and Danone in calling for additional workplace protections for US workers. The groups wants paid leave to address three aspects: leave for parents regarding the birth of a child or an adoption; for people taking time to care for a sick family member; and personal sick and medical leave. These aspects would promote workplace equality because women, people of color and low-wage employees have a disproportionate lack of access to current paid-leave programs.
“We don’t see it as a political issue. We see it as an equality issue,” says Laura Watt, Diageo Executive Vice President at Diageo North America and one of the group signatories. “We just believe it’s the right thing to do: It levels the playing field and gives everyone the same opportunities.”
As part of the company's diversity and inclusion efforts, Diageo’s ambitious global maternity and paternity leave policy offers women a minimum of 26 weeks fully paid maternity leave and men a minimum of four weeks fully paid paternity leave.
Diageo has also given employees time off to vote, care for family members during the pandemic and get vaccinated.
Read the full article about Diageo's support for a national paid family and medical leave program.
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