We researched the parental leave packages of the top 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and we found that a fifth of FTSE100 companies offer gender neutral parental leave.
Gender neutral parent leave allows all new parents to take the same amount of time off work to care for their children. This is a significant change from the traditional model of maternity leave, which has been in place for decades.
The companies that are offering gender neutral parental leave include some of the biggest names in the UK, such as Natwest, Aviva, Diageo.
The move is also being seen as a positive step for businesses, as it will help to attract and retain talented employees. It is hoped that this will lead to a more diverse and inclusive workplace, which will benefit both employers and employees.
We hope our findings will encourage more companies to review their parental leave policies and to ensure that they are offering fair and equitable packages to all employees.
Check out the list below:
Standard life aberdeen
40 weeks of full paid leave regardless of gender, which includes parents who adopt or have a child by a surrogate
Diageo
“Our global Family Leave policy offers female employees in all markets a minimum of 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave and we’ve also set a global minimum standard of four weeks paternity leave on full pay in all markets. And in more and more markets, we’ve introduced 26 weeks fully paid paternity leave – including in the United Kingdom, North America, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Australia.”
M & G
If you’re a new parent (through adoption, you/your partner giving birth or surrogacy) and you’ve worked with us continuously for at least 26 weeks by the qualifying date (see below), you’ll get 26 weeks paid parental leave to care for your new arrival.
Haleon
All employees globally will be entitled to 26-weeks fully paid parental leave following the arrival of a child into their lives. The policy is open to all employees, regardless of gender or sexuality and covers biological birth, surrogacy and adoption
Aviva
Aviva became one of the first UK employers to introduce an equal parental leave policy, offering new parents in its UK business 12 months’ parental leave, with six months at full basic pay.
Natwest Group
In the UK, Guernsey, Jersey and Gibraltar, new parents have been given up to 52 weeks of leave, with the first 24 fully paid.
Phoenix Group Holdings
“Our new parental leave policy will offer all parents – male and female – 26 weeks off at full pay following the birth or adoption of a child.”
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust
EDINBURGH fund management partnership Baillie Gifford which manages scottish mortgage has introduced equal parental leave of up to one year, with the first 26 weeks of leave would be at full pay
Beazley
Enhanced maternity pay is equal to enhanced paternity pay at 6 months full pay
St James’s Place
Enhanced maternity pay is equal to enhanced paternity pay at 26 weeks full pay
Intertek
Regular Full-Time employees who experience the birth or adoption of a new child may receive up to 24 weeks of paid New Parent Leave in addition to any paid or unpaid leave benefits for which they may be eligible.
Burberry
Burberry’s global parental leave policy offers all employees 18 weeks of parental leave at full pay and the opportunity to work a 30-hour week at full pay for a further four weeks on their return. The policy builds on Burberry’s existing maternity, paternity, adoption and partner leave commitments and creates a consistent approach for all employees globally who have worked at the Company for at least 12 months.
Rio Tinto
“Any employee welcoming a child to their family by birth or adoption will be eligible for 18 weeks of paid parental leave, And, where both parents work for Rio Tinto, both employees will be eligible for paid parental leave – at the same time, over-lapping or consecutively“
Vodafone
Vodafone offers a minimum of 16 weeks fully-paid leave to all new parents, irrespective of their gender. This equal parental leave is available across all 24 markets that the company operates in, including the US.
Spirax-Sarco Engineering
We’re ensuring the best start for new families by giving every colleague who becomes a parent a minimum of 16 weeks paid parental leave – wherever they are, whoever they are and how ever they become a parent
Halma
Halma’s equal and global parental leave policy gives all parents 14 weeks of full paid leave for births, surrogacy and adoptions.
BHP Group
BHP Billiton will introduce a standardised minimum period of paid parental leave across all the regions in which we operate. From 1 July 2009, a minimum of 18 weeks paid parental leave will be provided for our employees upon the birth or adoption of a child. Paid parental leave benefits can also be split between parents if both work for BHP Billiton.
BAE Systems
Full-time and part-time employees are eligible on date of hire. For births and adoptions of non-related children up to age 18, BAE Systems will provide:
- Full-time employee (40 hours): 160 hours paid at your regular rate of pay
- Part-time employee (20-39 hours): 120 hours paid at your regular rate of pay
This data was sourced from company websites, job descriptions, and crowdsourced from employee in some instances.
This article does not entitle employees to the leave stated. Employees should check for eligibility requirements through their own manager or HR department.
Additional eligibility criteria may be required in all instances.
Why lactation rooms in the workplace matter
Lactation rooms in the workplace are essential for working mums who want to continue breastfeeding their babies after returning to work. These rooms provide a private and comfortable space for nursing mothers to express milk and also store it until they can take it home to their babies.
How employers can support parents by reducing the mental load
The mental load that employees carry can impact so much, whether that’s their job satisfaction, productivity, or their overall well-being. In fact, the mental load can have a detrimental impact on your employees’ mental health. As an employer, it’s important to support the people working for you to balance the demands of their jobs and other things they may have going on in their lives.
Supporting Male Dominated Sectors
There’s a wide range of issues within male dominated sectors but one in particular is how un-family friendly they can be. This has other repercussions that go much further than employees being unable to spend time with their families. It has a huge impact on the mental well-being of the men in those sectors and women often struggle to stay in their jobs in those industries once they become mothers.
We're interested in learning about your experience of taking paternity and shared parental leave.
We’d love to hear your views on this topic, so we have created a survey to hear about your experience
We’re looking for men who live in the UK who have at least one child or are expecting a child to complete our survey.
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