Update from March 6, 2026: Two years after the introduction of gender-neutral parental leave at Henkel, the company is drawing a positive conclusion. Worldwide, 15 percent more employees took parental leave in 2025 than in 2024, writes HR Director Sylvie Nicol on Linkedin. The increase in employees is particularly pleasing. Last year, 35 percent more men took parental leave than in the previous year.
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Update from August 12, 2025: There was great enthusiasm in the HR scene when Henkel announced that it would introduce gender-neutral parental leave at the beginning of 2024. According to the regulation, all parents worldwide employed by the chemical company can take eight weeks of leave with full salary compensation.
The new benefit was announced at a time when many people in Germany were waiting for the government to introduce the so-called family start time – a paid two-week leave for the second parent after the birth of the child. Henkel made this possible worldwide on its own, while a corresponding law in Germany has become more distant since the change of government and it no longer even appears in the coalition agreement.
