General Mills will soon offer up to 20 weeks of 100% paid maternity leave

New policy also allows 12 weeks of parental leave

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS – Looking for a job and want to start a family? You may want to put General Mills at the top of your list of potential employers.

The company announced Tuesday that it's expanding its leave times beginning Jan. 1, 2019.

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  • New birth mothers - 18-20 weeks of fully paid time off.
  • Parental leave (fathers, partners and adoptive parents) - 12 weeks.
  • Caregiver leave - 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 - Fully paid time off for up to eight weeks, 65 percent of pay for up to 26 weeks.

"We spent a lot of time talking with employees at different life stages and asking questions about their pain points and what contributes to feeling torn between work and home," said Jacqueline Williams-Roll, chief human resources officer at General Mills. "Out of those discussions, we developed a strategy to focus on these moments when employees really need support the most."

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