Parental Leave at HEM Supports Respect for People

Huber's diverse workforce encompasses individuals from various backgrounds, who each return home to their unique circumstances at the end of the workday. For those eagerly anticipating the arrival of a child, Huber offers a supportive environment that enables all parents to cherish the first and most precious moments with the newest addition to their family through our Parental Leave program.?

We spoke with several of our team members who have recently taken Parental Leave and invited them to share their experiences as new parents in the workforce. Explore their perspectives and insights below.?

Edward Cantu , EUX Operations Manager, Americas?

How many Children do you have and how old are they? Are any of them in daycare? If so, how does that affect your day-to-day life??

We have one child, and he is 9 months old. He is not currently in daycare. My wife and I are fortunate in that she has a generous bonding leave and is able to provide childcare until our son’s first birthday.?

How do you manage to balance parenthood and a career? What are your experiences??

Balancing parenthood and a career has been a challenging endeavor, especially while trying to maintain a healthy work/life balance. With an infant at home, relief from the workday often means jumping to your “second job.” Additionally, the workday feels longer when a good night’s rest is not a given. Wanting to be a great husband, father, and employee means there is a constant struggle for your time and energy. That being said, the fruits of your labor are so fulfilling and joyful. Being able to take advantage of Huber’s Flexibility-at-Work policy has been such a boon for our family. It enables me to be more present at home and has really helped me to maintain a healthy work/life balance. It also allows me to share little moments with my family throughout the day, providing all the motivation I need to bring my best to my work life.?

How did your experience with Huber's parental leave support your dual role??

I was very excited when I learned that Huber offered leave for both parents. It has always been common in the US to provide parental leave only to the birthing parent, but providing leave to the non-birthing parent is something that is new and has been a long time coming. As is usual, Huber is ahead of the curve in offering this benefit. Being able to take advantage of this opportunity allowed me to provide support to and bond with both my wife and my son. I can’t imagine missing out on all that I got to experience during my six-week parental leave. Another benefit of parental leave is that it helped me to cope with the challenges of being a new parent without the burden of juggling my career and family obligations. Those six weeks afforded my wife and me the time we needed to learn and adjust to our new lives. I am forever grateful that I was lucky enough to spend that crucial time with my family.?

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Alex Hopkins, Production Manager?

How many Children do you have??

I have one daughter.?

How do you manage to balance parenthood and a career? What are your experiences??

Firstly, I have an amazing wife who cares for our daughter during the work week. There have been occasions where I’ve needed to take short-notice PTO, and my manager has always been supportive in allowing me the time to take care of my family.?

How did your experience with Huber's parental leave support your dual role??

Huber’s commitment to employees and their families has surpassed all of my expectations. Huber offers a generous parental leave package and allows each employee to exercise it to best fit their needs. Huber leadership has been incredibly supportive every step of the way.?

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Levi Kennington, Multicraft??

How many Children do you have and how old are they???

My wife and I currently have three children: Kalvin—7 years old, Kennedy—4 years old, and Kora 4.5 months old. Kalvin is in second grade, Kennedy is in preschool, and Kora is in daycare. We are very fortunate for the daycare that my children attend. They provide transportation to and from school and pre-school is built into the center. Essentially, my wife and I can drop all three of them off at daycare and don’t have to worry about how we are going to get them to school.?

How do you manage to balance parenthood and a career? What are your experiences??

Balancing work and parenthood is not easy. It takes a team and sometimes a village to manage day-to-day life when you have children. My wife and I are fortunate that we have a great support system and that support system is able to help out whenever we may need them. One of us may be cooking supper and the other one is doing homework or starting baths. Having a routine has helped us a lot.?

How did your experience with Huber's parental leave support your dual role??

I have only worked at Huber since February of 2023, so I have only experienced one parental leave with them. Since starting in February, I did not get the entire six weeks of parental leave due to the time that I started however it was nice knowing that I would be able to spend that time with my wife and our newborn baby. Bonding with a newborn is so important and with the parental leave that I received, I was able to have that with our infant.?

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Salome Ruedas , Territory Manager for Huber AgroSolutions?

How many children do you have and how old are they? ?

I have seven children, ages 11 years, 10 years, 8 years, 7 years, 5 years, 3 years, and 8 months.?

How do you manage to balance parenthood and a career???

With full support from my spouse, Ashlee. She is fully involved with our kid’s day-to-day school and extracurricular activities. Her effort allows me to focus on my day-to-day work activities, so that I am able to spend time with them on my days off.?

How did your experience with Huber's parental leave support your dual role???

My experience in working for the Huber Engineered Materials is that the company supports its Principles (In this case Respect for People) through action and support programs for their employees. Having seven children on parental leave allowed me to step in and take care of/spend time with the kids, farm animals, garden and household upkeep, which enabled my spouse to recover from childbirth?

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Jill Zlydak , Lead Training and Knowledge?

How many children do you have and how old are they? Are any of them in daycare? If so, how does that affect your day-to-day? ?

I have two children, ages 4.5 years and 1.5 years old. The older child is in full-day Pre-K and the younger child is in daycare. My day-to-day is mainly affected if there is a school/daycare closure (holiday, bad weather, etc.) or if they are sick. Another way my day is impacted would be if I have early or late meetings for work which interfere with the drop-off or pick up times.?

How do you manage to balance parenthood and a career? What are your experiences???

Assuming the kids are at school/daycare as planned, I try to make sure I set boundaries (mostly to stop myself) so I don’t try to continue working on things after hours when it is time for me to spend time with my family. Obviously, there are some exceptions where I may need to attend a meeting, function, or handle a high-priority item outside of my normal work hours, but I try to make that the exception, not the norm. I used to have a bad habit of continuing to work after hours at home just because I could but after becoming a parent, I tried to change this so I could ensure I got to spend quality time with my family.?

How did your experience with Huber's parental leave support your dual role? ?

My experience (especially with my second child) was excellent. Huber increased the amount of time for parental leave between my first and second child. After my first child, I was struggling with the thought of returning to work so soon because I didn’t feel like I was ready. When Huber announced the changes to their parental leave policy in 2020, I was happy with the adjustments they made for their employees.?

Serving as an additional resource for Parents at Huber, the Working Parents Employee Resource Group serves as an accessible resource for supporting parents and their allies in raising the next generation.?