ALL new parents at a major Scottish company are to be given nine months parental leave at full pay when they have a child, regardless of gender.
Investment company Standard Life Aberdeen has announced that it's 4,500 employees across the UK will be given the same entitlement to time off whether they are a mother or father.
The generous new deal, which kicks in on January first next year, includes 40 weeks leave on full pay and a further three months on a reduced salary.
It is available to adoptive parents and those who have a child with a surrogate as well as those who conceive naturally, and can be taken all at once or in to or three periods of leave up to two years after the baby arrives.
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All new parents are eligible, regardless of gender, family set-up or how long they have been at the company.
Paternal leave gives mums and dads time with their children
If a baby is born premature, the policy also offers additional leave to cover the period between birth and 37 weeks, to support parents in what can be challenging circumstances.
The paternal leave arrangements at the company are a substantial improvement on the statutory deal offered by many others under government rules.
At these workplaces, mothers expecting a new child are entitled to 52 weeks of leave, with Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) paid for up to 39 weeks.
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For the first six weeks, SMP is 90 per cent of average weekly earnings; and after that £148.68 or 90% of average weekly earnings – whichever is lower.
Partners get just two weeks; or they can take shared parental leave but the primary caregiver has to end their leave early.
One new parent at Aberdeen Standard Life said that he had originally planned to take his two weeks of leave immediately after his child was born and then use holiday to spend more time with his family.
He said the new policy was "brilliant on a number of fronts", adding: "It really does create an equal playing field between men and women.
"It gives me a massive opportunity to be around for Sinead and our new baby, in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to be before, and that is really exciting.”
Rose Thomson, Chief HR Officer at Standard Life Aberdeen, said that the new arrangements meant that fresh parents avoid having to choose who stays with the baby and who returns to work.
She said: “Current arrangements – whether statutory or enhanced - can mean new parents have to make difficult decisions about who can afford to take leave and whether one parent’s time with the child, takes away from the other. We think that needs to change.”
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“Our new policy represents a potentially life-changing opportunity for new parents – whatever their family circumstances.
"We know that our people need to balance their work lives with their personal lives and this new policy is one example of the actions we’re taking to help them maintain that balance.”
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