Nestlé’s Parent Support Spotlight on Kelly: Being There for the First Belly Laugh
“I was there for my daughter’s first belly laugh, I could even see her personality start to develop more.”
by Kelly, Team Lead Human Resources at Nestlé Purina
I’ve been with Nestlé Purina for eleven years. I joined immediately after I graduated college, and I earned my master’s degree in HR management with educational support from Purina. I became the team lead of HR operations five years ago.
In 2013, when my first child was born, I took FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) for twelve weeks off. I was saving up every spare personal day to try to bridge the gap. You do your best when you have only twelve weeks to arrange childcare, but I wasn’t as confident and felt guilty.
Things changed with Nestlé’s Parent Support Policy. Since I work in HR, I had a lot of knowledge on the before-and-after of the policy. We started hearing that a new parental leave policy was close to rolling out, but when my coworker and I saw the actual policy, we were blown away. It’s not a policy you often see in the U.S. I’m still blown away. For the birth of my daughter Kayla, I chose to take the full six months of leave.
