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Sweetgreen launches 5-month paid parental leave

May 22, 2019

Sweetgreen leaders have decided to offer all employees five months of fully paid parental leave.

"Nobody makes a bigger impact than our team members — it's their dedication that allows us to live our mission every day: connecting people to real food," the company founders wrote Tuesday in a post on Medium. "This is why we have updated our parental leave policy to provide a more just benefit to all parents, creating a new standard in the restaurant industry. We believe it is our responsibility to lead the way given the U.S. is one of the few countries that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents."

In addition to parental leave, the chain said it offers competitive pay and the opportunity for equity for head coaches,

"At sweetgreen, mothers, fathers, adoptive parents, foster parents, and others with new additions to their families will now receive 5 months fully paid leave," according to the post. "This move is rare for our industry and we hope this creates a conversation for other companies to join.

Sweetgreen, founded in 2007, in Washington D.C., by Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman, has about 30 units.