Working fathers at Fidelity International could see an increase of as much as 26 weeks in their paid parental leave when newborns arrive following a revised policy to equalise gender treatment of parents.
Irish employees at the asset manager currently get ten days if they are new fathers and 26 weeks if they are new mothers. The new policy means both will get 26 weeks.
In Luxembourg, where fathers also have ten days parental leave, both genders will get 20 weeks paid leave, the same currently given to mothers.
The firm says it will equalise paid parental leave for new parents – regardless of sexual orientation and including parents though surrogacy and adoption – across global locations on or after September 1 in line with maternity entitlements in each country.
In the UK, fathers get six weeks ‘shared’ (rather than ‘standard’) parental leave, which will increase to 26 weeks.
Anne Richards, chief executive, said: “We want to be a market leader and offer an inclusive culture where all our people may spend time caring for their children and thrive in their careers. We are therefore delighted to be announcing our new parental leave policy and are especially proud to be offering this globally to all our employees.”
Standard Life Aberdeen and Invesco recently announced similar measures.
Sally Nelson, chief people officer at Fidelity International, said the policy would “transform parenthood for many families”.
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