Menu MERCK ANNOUNCES ENHANCEMENTS TO FAMILY LEAVE TIME More flexibility, more time off are two of the new features. 6 WEEKS PAID TIME OFF 20 WEEKS UNPAID CHILD CARE LEAVE Merck’s recently enhanced family-leave benefits provide six weeks of job-protected paid time off to spend with a new child, in addition to the company’s benefit of 20 weeks of unpaid child care leave and short-term disability. These benefit improvements apply to all employees no matter how one chooses to expand their family: parents through birth, surrogacy, adoption, and foster placement. Financial assistance for adoption has more than doubled, and has been expanded to include surrogacy. This new paid time off enhancement can be taken in consecutive weeks, as phased time off (individual days off per week for a number of weeks) or a combination of both. “The important work of our employees doesn’t start or end with the business day. We are mothers and fathers, siblings and children, friends and neighbors...Providing employees with benefits and policies to help achieve a healthy work-life balance is critical for our company.” —Mirian Graddick-Weir, executive vice president, Global Human Resources, Merck Merck has a long history of supporting our employees and their families. These support systems include benefits spanning from extensive health insurance, personal health coaching, a registered nurse hotline, flexible work arrangements and back-up child care, to financial planning, education assistance, employee discount programs and paid time off for volunteer efforts. The list is far-reaching, but we never stop looking for ways to improve these benefits. “Building an inclusive environment where talented people can build a career includes offering enhanced ways for all types of new parents to enjoy time off with financial backing.” —Jeff Geller, vice president, Global Compensation and Benefits, Global Human Resources, Merck. It is our hope that this new initiative strengthens our commitment in giving our employees access to a wide variety of health services, programs, resources and tools to support their family, health and well-being. It is fundamental to the success of our business to ensure that employees take care of themselves and their families, as well as to fulfill social and civic responsibilities Because we know that when our employees feel their best, in all aspects of their lives, they can perform at their best. Copyright. © 2009-2017 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Forward-Looking Statement Privacy Terms of Use Site Map