Aviva announces equal parental leave policy

Aviva has announced a new group-wide policy to offer men and women equal parental leave.

Parents employed by Aviva will be eligible to the same amount of paid and unpaid time off, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or how they became a parent (birth, adoption or surrogacy).

In the UK, Aviva is offering up to one year of leave, of which 26 weeks’ is at full basic pay for each parent employed by the company within the first 12 months of a child’s arrival. This applies to employees in all UK offices and locations, with no eligibility criteria relating to service length or earnings threshold. Aviva’s new parental leave policy entitlement includes:

• Equal amount of paid and unpaid parental leave when a new child arrives.
•  Includes full-time and part-time employees across all levels of the company.
• No requirement to share the parental leave between parents.
• If both parents are employees of Aviva, they will each have their own entitlement to leave and pay, which they can take at the same time.
• The new parental leave policy will be offered to Aviva employees who become a parent on or after the 19th November 2017 in the UK, Ireland, France, Singapore and Canada. Aviva will be working to extend this to all other Aviva businesses within the next year.

Sarah Morris, Chief People Officer at Aviva, said: “We think this is one of the most ground-breaking, family-friendly policies offered by any employer. It’s time to equalise parental leave and create a level playing field for men and women who want to take time out from their career to spend with their family.

“This will transform the first year of parenthood for many families, giving them the opportunity to spend precious time together. It’s one of our commitments to build a more inclusive and diverse culture at Aviva.”

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