Grant Thornton extends paid paternity leave to six weeks
Professional services firm Grant Thornton has moved to strengthen its family leave offering. Extending paid paternity by four weeks, the company aims to improve flexibility for its staff as they raise children.
The great resignation has brought many workplace issues to a head in recent months. As employers struggle to hold on to talent, they have sought to improve their benefits as a means of keeping staff with the company. One of the most prominent items on the agenda has been the desire for workplace flexibility.
To supply its staff with improved flexibility, and enhanced work-life balance, Grant Thornton’s UK wing has announced a series of key updates to its family leave policies. As it seeks to provide more flexibility to its people with caring responsibilities, and those adjusting to welcoming new family members, Grant Thornton has grown its paternity pay from two weeks to six weeks, at full pay including statutory pay.
Perry Burton, Head of People and Brand at Grant Thornton UK said, “Formulated with feedback from our people in mind, and with the objective of developing a market-leading range of family leave policies, these changes are a demonstrative investment in our people at a time when competition for talent is fierce.”
The move comes along a number of other key updates, which will apply to people who are due to have children, including through adoption. One policy is a reduction in length of service criteria for paternity, shared parental or maternity and adoption leave and increased enhanced pay for maternity and adoption leave. And other support Grant Thornton offers its people, such as neonatal leave and unpaid family leave, are also set to be strengthened. The changes will come into force at the start of 2023.
Burton added, “Parenting together in the first days, weeks or months of a child’s life can be instrumental in shaping family dynamics. The extension of our paid paternity leave from two weeks to six weeks builds on our commitment to create an inclusive, supportive culture that encourages all new parents to take leave, creating an opportunity for both parents to take an active role in the weeks following childbirth. These updates to our family leave policies collectively play a key role in attracting and retaining diverse talent and support our commitment to creating a flexible, inclusive culture which provides opportunities for everyone to reach their full potential.”
The announcement follows recent recognition of the firm as a leading family-friendly employer by Working Families, the national charity for working parents and carers. For the second year in a row, Grant Thornton featured amongst the top 10 in Working Families’ list of family-friendly employers.
It also follows changes announced by Grant Thornton last October related to flexibility. In 2021, the firm declared that it would launch a new approach to bank holidays, permitting staff to choose when they take public holiday leave, rather than on fixed dates.
