Standard Chartered announced today the rollout of enhanced global parental leave benefits. From 1 September 20231, the Bank will standardise the amount of parental leave it offers, providing parents the option of undertaking more equitable caregiving responsibilities for their children.
With the enhanced benefits, employees can access a minimum of 20 weeks2 of paid parental leave, irrespective of gender, relationship status or how a child comes to permanently join an employee's family3.
The enhanced benefits have been designed to support working parents. This is part of the Bank's commitment to fostering an inclusive culture, where employees are supported in balancing their personal lives with building successful careers.
Tanuj Kapilashrami, Group Head, Human Resources, Standard Chartered, said: "We continuously look at how we can introduce progressive benefits that drive inclusion, improve the employee experience, and help colleagues achieve their potential.
We believe benefits such as this help address globally prevalent societal norms around traditional roles, improve workforce participation and provide options to those who want to take up shared childcare responsibilities. This will positively impact families' financial wellbeing and create a more inclusive workplace that supports each individual's unique family planning choices.
We hope that our actions inspire other employers—across industries, around the world—to take similar actions. If we take a stand together, we can build a movement that creates a more inclusive society."
"We are the leading bank globally and locally in offering these parental leave benefits. This move follows our flexible working arrangement and other benefits offered in order to serve as a differentiator to our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to attract, motivate and retain the best talent. These efforts have contributed to one of our shared goals of being an Employer of Choice," added Plakorn Wanglee, President and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (Thai).
1 Standardised minimum 20-week parental leave will be implemented globally from 1 September. Some markets will implement the enhanced benefits at a later date once local regulatory approval has been obtained. The enhanced benefits will also currently not be applicable in a few markets due to planned divestitures of all or parts of our business in these markets.
2 Where local law provides for parental leave entitlement greater than the minimum Group standard, local law will prevail.
3 Local HR guidelines, including eligibility conditions and local statutory requirements may apply.
Source: Standard Chartered Bank (Thai)