Insurance firm QBE has enhanced its parental leave policy in its Asian operating countries to ensure employees who become fathers receive the same entitlements as mothers.
Paternity leave now matches what QBE currently offers mothers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, which is an uplift on existing provisions. In Hong Kong, this will now be 14 weeks at full pay, 16 weeks in Singapore, 14 weeks in Malaysia, and up to 26 weeks in Vietnam.
The policy, which is effective for QBE staff who became parents from the start of 2025 onwards, ensures that all employees will have access to a minimum of 12 weeks of paid parental leave by the end of the year.
Employees who welcomed a baby in 2024 will receive six weeks of enhanced paternity leave to be utilised in 2025, so they can also benefit from the policy.
The initiative was designed by QBE to equalise paid maternity, paternity, and adoption leave and improve the parental leave benefit across its local and international operations. It is aimed at supporting employees’ work-life balance and highlights its commitment to fostering inclusion, helping with family wellbeing, and redefining gender roles in caregiving.
Rob Kosova, chief executive officer of QBE Asia, said: “These leave enhancements are a great example of QBE constantly striving to support our people to be at their best. Regardless of how our people become parents, we now have equality of leave for anyone who welcomes a child. This gives our people greater choice and flexibility when navigating a significant milestone in their life, enabling just that little bit of extra resilience, and supporting individual families as well as the communities in which we live. This is expected to augment QBE’s reputation as a great place to work.”
