News and Media

01/08/2022

Fiagril now grants extended maternity and paternity leave to employees

One of the most emblematic moments for mothers and fathers is returning to work after the birth of their children. This is because, according to what is currently guaranteed by the legislation, the period to be with the newborns is considered short, not making the monitoring of important phases related to the child’s first months of life easier.

Thinking about this and aiming at the welfare of the families of its employees, Fiagril started to adopt the extended maternity and paternity leave in July. This way, mothers now count on a six-month period to take care of the little ones, which represents sixty days more than what is currently guaranteed by the labor legislation. As for fathers, who have five days, the period now becomes 20 days.

Dioneia Canci, Director of People & Management at Fiagril, comments that the action is linked to the company’s purpose of “transforming lives, connecting sustainable production with the world”. This also includes good practices aimed at the quality of life of our employees; I usually say that these actions are an investment in our main asset, which is our employees.

Patrícia Grutkaque is one of the more than 170 women who are part of Fiagril’s staff. She recently gave birth to a daughter and the period to return to work was getting closer and closer. But a few days ago, she says, she received a letter from the company informing her that she would have two more months to stay home and follow up her baby’s development.

“When I finished reading, I felt a relief in my heart, something that didn’t fit in my chest. Those who are mothers know that every extra second with our little ones is important. These two extra months will allow me to follow closely the growth of my daughter,” says the first time mother. It is worth remembering that the leave extensions also apply in cases of adoption and legal custody.

Best Practices 

Leave is understood as the provision that guarantees the worker’s right to be absent, in a paid manner, from work for a period of time right after childbirth. According to the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), this type of intervention is motivated by the fact that a woman’s decision to return to the labor market in an environment without this policy tends to sacrifice her well-being.

According to the social company Gênero e Número, less than 1% of Brazilian companies have extended maternity and paternity leave.