Standard Chartered announced today the rollout of enhanced global parental leave benefits. From September 1, 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 weeks of paid parental leave, irrespective of gender, relationship status or how a child comes to permanently join an employee’s family.
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 of Human Resources at 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 well-being 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, and around the world – to take similar actions. If we take a stand together, we can build a movement that creates a more inclusive society.”
Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh said: “We are proud to be the first organisation in Bangladesh to offer a minimum of five months of parental leave benefits for both mothers and fathers. At Standard Chartered, we understand that people do their best at work when they are able to spend time with their families and achieve a positive work-life balance. We look forward to seeing family-friendly policy changes across Bangladesh and are excited to play a key role in promoting equal responsibility and active participation by all parents in raising the future generation.”
For more than 118 years, Standard Chartered has remained dedicated to driving commerce and development by investing in communities, expanding the reach and scale of services to promote greater inclusion, and creating new opportunities for stakeholders.