Sandvik is Supporting Employees Across the Globe with New Parental Leave Program

Today, the benefits of parents spending quality time with their young children have been widely publicized, but what can companies do to better support employees during these pivotal stages of life?

Sandvik, the Swedish multinational engineering company specializing in products and services for mining, component manufacturing, and rock processing, announced its gender-neutral parental leave benefit. Recognizing the ‘moments you don’t want to miss,’ Sandvik President and CEO, Stefan Widing, is a huge supporter of the new benefit and sees his own periods of parental leave as great experiences that also benefited his professional career.

The new scheme allows parents to take 14 weeks of paid leave, providing 90 percent of an individual’s base salary in countries where no equivalent or better benefit already exists. For this reason, the benefit is expected to primarily benefit male employees.

“It’s a gender-neutral equal parental leave for all our employees globally,” says Nidhi Gokhale, Head of HR at Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions. “Whether you’re a mum or dad, or where you live across the world you will still be able to bond with your newborn and share the parenting responsibly together.”

Leading by example

Initially launched in Canada, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia in July 2024, the program will be rolled out across the globe over the next 12 months. To be eligible for such leave, an employee must have completed 12 months of service with Sandvik, whether full or part time, and the leave must be taken within 12 calendar months of the birth or adoption of a child.

Reflecting on his own experiences, Stefan shares: “I live in a country where we’ve had this benefit for some time. I spent six months at home with each of my boys when they were between six and 12 months old. It was a rewarding experience that allowed me to connect with them at a young age, which I wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to do.

“The personal development I experienced during this time also helped me at work,” he adds. “As one of our strategic objectives is to be an employer of choice, I am really happy that we can now provide this benefit to all our employees, regardless of their location and gender. Providing a healthy work-life balance is important for attracting, retaining, and developing our employees, and we believe this benefit will improve the work-life balance for new families or those whose families are growing.”

Podcast power

To mark the campaign’s rollout, Sandvik has created two engaging podcast episodes that shine a light on the benefits of global parental leave. The Meet Sandvik podcast, which features different employees or industry experts to gain their perspective on Sandvik, covers topics like digitalization, sustainability, innovation, technology, and diversity.

In the first episode about parental leave, Nidhi explains how the initiative promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by offering paid leave for all parents regardless of gender, location, or family structure. “This gender-neutral benefit allows parents, whether through birth, adoption, or surrogacy, to spend 14 weeks bonding with their baby during the first year,” Nidhi shares.

“In many places, especially for fathers, parental leave is limited or non-existent,” she continues. “Our new scheme will help normalize shared parenting responsibilities and afford all employees the opportunity to focus on their growing family at such a crucial moment. While we’re not the first company to introduce this type of benefit, we’re among the few offering such comprehensive family support.”

Nidhi, who has taken parental leave in both India and Sweden throughout her career, brings a personal insight into the joys and challenges of parenthood. “Parenting is a journey, not a destination,” she states, “I felt fortunate about not having to worry about work during that first year with my newborn. In Sweden, it’s common to have equal parental leave, so my husband also got the opportunity to spend more time with our children.”

A scientific approach

In the following episode, the podcast team is joined by Dr Richard Petts, professor of sociology at Ball State University. As an expert in parental leave policies, Dr Petts’ research focuses on family dynamics, gender equality, and work-life balance.

Highlighting the positive impact of such policies for both employers and employees, Dr Petts describes the new Sandvik policy as a ‘win-win’ situation. “For employees, parental leave policies provide time away from work to adjust to parenthood, recover, and bond with their new child,” Dr Petts argues. “For employers, it leads to increased worker productivity, job retention, and improved satisfaction; when employees feel supported by their employer, they are more invested in their work.”

Dr Petts also shares his enthusiasm for the gender-neutral aspect of the policy. “Including fathers in these policies helps to break down traditional gender norms and create more equal co-parenting dynamics where parents share caregiving responsibilities. Policies like the one at

Sandvik set a new standard, and it’s inspiring to see such a global commitment to family-friendly workplace practices.”

The next steps

However, Dr Petts is quick to emphasize that policies alone are not enough; companies must also foster a culture where employees feel supported to take such leave. “It’s not enough to just have a policy,” he confirms. “Managers need to model parental leave-taking and actively support employees to use their entitled leave.”

With leaders like Nidhi and Stefan openly championing the program and sharing their experiences of parental leave, Sandvik is already excelling in providing employees with positive role models and a supportive culture. Testament to this, several Sandvik employees are already taking advantage of the new scheme, and many have supported the global rollout by kindly sharing their images and experiences for the campaign’s video.

The new Sandvik global parental leave program represents more than just a policy – it’s a sign of the company’s commitment to promoting a healthy work-life balance, as well as diversity and inclusion. Setting a standard for other companies, this policy redefines what it means to be a forward-thinking global employer. As Dr Petts notes in the company’s Meet Sandvik podcast, the benefits are endless, from creating stronger, more inclusive workplaces to disrupting gender norms.

More information on Sandvik global parental leave policy, as well as the podcast episodes, can be found here. See the latest opportunities to work at Sandvik here.