UK company British land has introduced a new Shared Parental benefits policy that provides both parents with equal pay benefits following the birth or adoption of a child. This goes beyond statutory Shared parental Leave (SPL) requirements, and will encourage both parents to play an equal role when raising a family.
The property investment company also states that the initiative will provide women with the opportunity to return to work at an earlier stage than a traditional maternity contract allows, whilst enabling their partners to play a fuller role in a child’s first year.
SPL became a statutory right on April 5 2015 and it allows all eligible employees in the UK to choose how to share out childcare during their first year. However, just one year on from the introduction of the UK’s Shared Parental Leave (SPL) scheme just one per cent of men have made use of the opportunity.
The research, published last year by My Family Care and the Women’s Business Council shows just one per cent of fathers have chosen to opt for SPL over the traditional two weeks of Paternity Leave, with half saying that they feel taking more time off would be perceived negatively at work. Under the system introduced by British Land, all employees participating in SPL will be paid at the same rate as enhanced parental pay throughout the period.
Chris Grigg, Chief Executive of British Land, comments: “The decision to update our SPL policy to benefit men and women equally is a big step forward for British Land, providing parents who work for us more choice and flexibility than before. It allows women to return to work earlier if they wish, and for their partners to be more involved in caring for their child in its first year.
“We create ‘Places People Prefer’ which centres on understanding our customers and responding to changing lifestyles. It feels right to take a modern approach to parental leave when we aspire to match ourselves with modern lifestyles, promote health, improve productivity and increase enjoyment through the assets we own.”
Speaking to HR Grapevine last month, Matt Webster, Head of Wellbeing and Futureproofing at British Land, discussed the firm’s approach to wellbeing: “Our approach to wellbeing also recognises that there is a strong correlation between happiness, social trust, and a sense of belonging to a place or a community.
“We are also mindful that small gestures – such as greeting people by name in the morning or offering assistance – are extremely valuable in making people feel part of a community.”
For advice from a UK leading specialist in Employment law, HR and Health and Safety Services for your company, please contact HPC.
For a link to the article we collected quotes from please visit this link to HR Grapevine: https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/news-2017-03-07-british-land-unveils-equal-pay-benefits-for-new-parents