Idaho company implements full-paid parental leave

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

Chobani, an American yogurt company with its production plant in Twin Falls, now offers six weeks of 100-percent paid parental leave for all employees – including dads.

The paid leave is offered to parents of any gender who’ve given birth, adopted or fostered a child, according to KTVB-Boise.

The Idaho factory is the world’s largest yogurt production facility at more than a million square feet, according to Curbed, and is home to more than 1,000 employees. Twin Falls Mayor Shawn Barigar told Curbed economic analysts estimate that for every job Chobani creates within the factory, six jobs are created in supporting industries like transport and dairy farming.

Grace Zuncic, an adviser on Chobani’s new parental leave policy, told KTVB that the company’s founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, took parental leave in April.

“We want employees to know that this is important to the company and the best way to do that is by example,” she said.