This year’s World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7) celebration calls for a concerted worldwide action to encourage and support all new mothers in creating a balance between breastfeeding and work. Nestle recently launched an initiative aligned to this. It fosters a supportive environment for breastfeeding mothers and ensures their job security. The Nestlé Global Maternity Protection Policy highlights paid maternity leave of up to 24 weeks and a conducive work environment for breastfeeding. It is designed to support the 340,000 Nestle employees around the globe, of whom one third are women.
In Pakistan, the general practice is to allow 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. Most public and private offices do not have daycare facilities or dedicated breastfeeding rooms that would make it easier for working women to continue breastfeeding when they return to work.
At Nestlé Pakistan, women are working at all sites including factories, sales offices, head office and milk collection units. The company strongly believes in having a gender balance and has always encouraged women by providing them opportunities and facilities so that it would be easier for them to achieve a work-life balance.
"At Nestlé, we are committed to enhancing the quality of life for people around the world – and this starts during the first days, weeks and months of life," said Magdi Batato, Managing Director for Nestlé Pakistan. "Our new Global Maternity Protection Policy promotes gender equality and breastfeeding in the workplace to ensure Nestlé parents feel secure and empowered to provide the best nutrition for baby."
Breast milk is widely recognized as the gold standard in infant nutrition. It provides all the nutrients and energy that babies need for healthy growth and development. As a company that endeavors to give children the healthiest start in life, Nestlé supports breastfeeding in the workplace.
The new Nestlé Policy, considered to be one of the most progressive in the food and beverage industry, embraces key principles set out by the International Labor Organization, Maternity Protection Convention. Some notable measures in the Policy include:
- A minimum of 14 weeks paid maternity leave with the right to extend the leave up to 24 weeks
- Employment protection and job security
- Flexible working arrangements
- Conducive work environment to breastfeed
- Daily breaks for mothers to breastfeed
- Access to breastfeeding rooms at work, equipped with comfortable chairs, pumps and refrigerators
- Health protection in the workplace
Recognizing that each family is unique, the measures apply to all primary caregivers of newborn babies, including fathers and adoptive parents.
The Policy reinforces Nestlé’s full support for the World Health Organization’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by introduction of adequate nutritious complementary foods, along with sustained breastfeeding for up to two years of age and beyond.
About Nestlé Pakistan
Nestlé Pakistan is the leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness company in Pakistan; meeting and exceeding all the international standards in manufacturing of their products. Nestlé Pakistan believes in creating shared value for the communities in which it operates with a focus on Nutrition, Water, Environmental Sustainability, Rural Development, and its People. Nestlé Pakistan works with thousands of farmers for collecting milk and engages in a number of rural development programmes for community development.
For more information, please contact:
Aatekah Mir-Khan,
Corporate Media Relations Manager, Nestlé Pakistan
Phone: 042-35988119
Email: [email protected]
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