Standard Life Aberdeen has introduced nine months of full paid parental leave for all new mothers and fathers.
In total, parents will be able to take 52 weeks in up to three separate blocks over two years in a way that suits the employee. Parents that have a premature baby will be offered additional leave to cover the period between birth and 37 weeks.
Adoptions and surrogacy are also covered by the policy.
Standard Life Aberdeen chief human resources officer Rose Thomson (pictured) detailed the fact her husband was only able to take one-week leave when they had children.
Thomson said: “I think he would look at this policy and say, wow, I would have loved to have been able to spend a lot more time with my kids when they were little. And so I look at this from not only my own perspective as a mum, but actually from a dad’s perspective.”
Cityhive chief executive Bev Shah said the policy was the best support she had seen a firm give new parents.
“I presume they have modelled how this would impact the business financially once the policy is fully embedded and accepted by staff so as to not run the risk of having to reverse it in the future,” Shah said.
All Standard Life Aberdeen employees are eligible regardless of gender, family set-up or how long they have been employed by the company.
Thomson said her experience of becoming a new mum had involved a lot of compromise.
“And I think what this policy is allowing families to do is dial down that level of compromise that perhaps I had to make when I was a new mum and hopefully that will make life a lot easier for the next generation of parents coming through the business,” she said.
The existing statutory arrangements can mean parents have to make difficult decisions about which parent can afford to take leave and whether one parent’s time with the child takes away from the other, she added. “We think that needs to change.”
Under existing statutory rules, mothers can take six weeks at 90% of pay. For 33 further weeks they receive whichever is lower of £148.68 or 90% of their average weekly earnings.
Fathers are entitled to one week with pay of £148.68 or 90% of their average weekly earnings.
Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay between each other.
