{"id":43265,"date":"2023-10-20T15:27:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/why-richard-branson-is-giving-his-employees-12-months-paid-parental-leave-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:27:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:27:19","slug":"why-richard-branson-is-giving-his-employees-12-months-paid-parental-leave-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/why-richard-branson-is-giving-his-employees-12-months-paid-parental-leave-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Richard Branson is giving his employees 12 months\u2019 paid parental leave – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image: Getty<\/em><\/p>\n

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Virgin founder Richard Branson is taking his commitment to the health and wellbeing of his employees to the next level by offering some staff in the London and Geneva offices of its Virgin Management division 12 months of paid parental leave.<\/p>\n

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Branson is well known for putting the wellbeing of his workers front and centre, letting his staff take as many holidays as they want and advocating for workplace policies that encourage employees to work from home.<\/p>\n

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Overnight, Virgin Management announced new mums and dads in its London and Geneva offices that have worked for the company for four years or more would be offered shared parental leave pay of up to 100% of their base salary for 52 weeks. New parents that have worked for the company for less than two years will receive around 25% of their base salary.<\/p>\n

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The policy, which is also available to adoptive parents, builds on shared parental leave legislation recently introduced by the UK government, which allows couples to share 50 weeks of parental leave between them.<\/p>\n

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In a blog post, Branson welcomed the government scheme but said Virgin wanted to \u201ctake it a step further\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you take care of your employees they will take care of your business,\u201d Branson said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat is a philosophy that has served us well for more than four decades and is the foundation of everything we do at Virgin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs a father and now a grandfather to three wonderful grandchildren, I know how magical the first year of a child\u2019s life is but also how much hard work it takes. Being able to spend as much time as possible with your loved ones is absolutely vital, especially early on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Branson said the policy fits in with Virgin\u2019s \u201cwork in changing business for good\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHealth and wellbeing in the workplace should play a critical part in every company\u2019s thinking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe more you support your staff, the happier and healthier your business with be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But not all businesses are in a position to offer such generous paid parental leave, with Ben Watts, director of wattsnext HR, telling SmartCompany<\/em> this morning \u201caffordability is the hardest thing\u201d for SMEs when it comes to leave entitlements for staff.<\/p>\n

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However, Watts says the Virgin policy is a \u201cfantastic concept\u201d and one that small businesses can \u201cabsolutely\u201d learn from.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s taking a very long-term approach that if you look after your employees, they are more likely to be around longer and be loyal to the business,\u201d Watts says.<\/p>\n

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Watts says the cost of offering employees parental leave should be compared to the cost of turning over staff, which he believes is often \u201cunderestimated\u201d by SMEs.<\/p>\n

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He also says small businesses can learn from Branson\u2019s approach to sharing leave between men and women, rather than only offering maternity leave to new mums.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnder Australian laws the father can take leave too,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic concept. There is no reason why leave shouldn\u2019t be available to women and men.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on SmartCompany.<\/em><\/p>\n


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