Building family bonds
From their first day of employment, all LEGO® colleagues are offered extended paid parental leave, no matter their family constellation, how they identify, where they live or what job role they hold.
For all parents
Our mission is to develop and inspire the builders of tomorrow. We believe we can have a positive impact by supporting parents and caregivers to spend more time with their children at an important stage in their early childhood development. Our policy supports all colleagues from every aspect of the business and is available to all parents – including adoptive, fostering or other.*
From day one
All LEGO colleagues are eligible for paid leave from their first day of work. Our policy covers 100% of their salary throughout the whole period. During their paid leave, parents will also receive merit increases, bonus and collect vacation days as they do when working.*
26 weeks of paid parental leave
We offer 26 weeks of paid leave for the primary caregiver and 8 weeks for the secondary caregiver on full pay.* Parents decide who takes the role as the primary caregiver and we encourage all our colleagues to take their time to build a bond with their family.
*We adhere to local laws and regulations in our local markets. This global policy will be fully implemented, in all markets, by the end of 2022, as the minimum standard for paid parental leave at the LEGO Group. In countries where local/governmental policies offer a more generous leave, the local policies take precedence.
Having the opportunity to spend time with their new family is essential for all parents and caregivers. It takes time to establish routines, to get to know each other and to form strong bonds.
We believe all parents and caregivers should have this opportunity no matter what their role is or where in the world they work. We want to make sure that while giving their children the best start in life, our colleagues do not have to worry about their job security or salary. With our parental leave policy we can contribute to creating a fully inclusive and diverse workplace with equal opportunities. It not only shapes the future of the society we operate in, but also the present for all parents at the LEGO Group and their children.
We’ve asked our colleagues Amanda, Mark, April, Ali, Madeleine, Carolina, Yolanda, Alen, Leon and Yeen to share their experiences of the extended parental leave and how it made a difference to them and their families.
Establishing a sibling bond
Yolanda gave birth to her daughter more than 10 years after her son was born. She believes that having extended time at home with her two children helped establish their sibling bond.
The start of change
When Carolina came back from leave, she stepped into the role of leading the Government & Public Affairs team in the Americas on an interim basis. That made her feel valued and trusted, taking on extra responsibility after being away for 7 months. She hopes the extended parental policy inspires more companies to take action.
Getting used to parenthood
As a young father, Alen is embracing his extended parental leave and using the opportunity to get used to his new role in life. He and his wife are adopting the LEGO Group’s learning-through-play philosophy as they raise their daughter.
Building memories together
The extended time gave Ali the chance to help welcome his son to the world, to establish sleep routines and for the new family to get to know each other and their new way of life. It gave the family a chance to form a stronger bond and enjoy new experiences together.
The courage to make important choices
Yeen has worked for the LEGO Group for almost 10 years. During that time, she has felt supported and empowered by her colleagues and the company, and being able to enjoy extended parental leave hasn’t meant she missed out on new career opportunities.
Prepared to return
Madeleine found her experience with parental leave with her third child very different. With the new policy in place just before Madeleine got pregnant, it alleviated a lot of the stress she experienced during the short leave with her first two children and gave her more time to bond with her newborn daughter and her two sons.
Better work-life balance
The first time Amanda took parental leave, she and her partner Brian had to make some big financial decisions. Now, with the new extended parental leave policy, they’ve experienced what a world of difference it makes for them and their family.
Balancing work and newborn twins
Leon joined the LEGO Group in 2021, and was granted an 8-week parental leave while he was still on probation. He was delighted to spend that time with his newborn twins and older son, knowing he wasn’t missing out on his children’s important ‘firsts’.
Time to build a family
In the state of Texas where April and Casey live, there’s no paid leave from the state, so getting the new parental leave has been crucial to giving April time to bond with both of her children. It also helped her get into the right mental state to return to work, knowing that she’d set up the foundations of a family routine while she was off.
Seeing my daughter’s first smile
Mark hadn’t thought about being the primary caregiver until the extended parental leave policy made it possible. He believes more dads should embrace that role and experience the bonds that form when spending dedicated time with your child.
Being there when it matters the most
When our loved ones need immediate care, become ill or injured, we want to be able to take care of them. To support our colleagues during these important times, we’ve introduced a global caregiver leave policy which allows all our colleagues up to 4 weeks of paid leave to take care of their loved ones when they need them the most.
How children inspire our work culture
Children are our role models, and we look to them as a constant source of inspiration. They’re curious, creative and imaginative. Our purpose and values help create a culture of fairness, trust and mutual respect that make working at the LEGO Group a truly rewarding experience.
To support children, we need to support parents
In the first few years of a child’s life, their brain develops faster than it ever will again. By playing together right from the start, parents and caregivers give little ones fuel for all that learning and growing. And through that play they establish loving, nurturing bonds that help children grow up to be happier, healthier adults.
That’s why The LEGO Foundation funds parenting programs around the world and promote playful parenting.
A diverse and inclusive LEGO Group
It is our ambition to build a truly diverse and inclusive organization that helps us reach and inspire all children, regardless of who they are or where they come from.
An empowering partnership
Read about the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) set by UN Women to guide us on our journey of equality and inclusivity.
Family matters
Check out our family matters blog
We decided to check in with some colleagues to find out how they got on as they’ve recently spent some special family time with their new arrivals.