Wates Group, a UK construction, mechanical and engineering, residential, land development, property services and facilities management business employs 6,000 employees.
It offers enhanced maternity leave, where 26 weeks is at full pay, followed by 26 weeks at statutory maternity pay. It has enhanced its shared parental leave and adoption leave to match this. Its fully-paid paternity and partner leave is 12 weeks at full pay and flexible in that it can be taken up to two years after a child is born.
The group also offers two weeks of bereavement leave and two weeks of miscarriage and baby loss leave, for both parents if they experience loss at any stage of pregnancy. It has a parents and carers network and offers support through this by ensuring staff at different stages of life have access to what they need. The bereavement leave enhancement took effect in 2020 and the baby loss leave in 2024.
Wates Group built a business case for offering enhanced parental benefits by looking at its core focus areas of support for parents and supporting gender equity in the workplace, says Nikunj Upadhyay, HR director, land and development division and inclusion and diversity director.
“When we started looking at this, it was in 2019, and we wanted to be the most inclusive organisation in our sector and to ensure any changes are sustainable,” she explains. ”That led to an honest debate about our own perspectives, thoughts and views on the topic, exploring our purpose as an organisation, how we consider our offerings and how equalising parental leave can help close the gender pay gap.”
When deciding on the parental benefits enhancements, the key stakeholders were the group’s chief executive officer, executive committee, members of the Wates family and several directors. During the development stage, it carried out various rounds of focus group discussions with women, men and line managers, to understand how to ensure it has a culture where people can take the leave. It added more flexibility, in terms of working hours and workload, following a consultation within the organisation, where staff said they would feel more comfortable taking the leave if they had greater flexibility.
“People talked about taboos and said we need a conversation and support, but it’s quite difficult to talk about it if there’s nothing to anchor it to. The network is crucial in terms of consulting and making sure the policy responds to their needs,” Upadhyay says.
Not only does offering these benefits align with Wates Group’s values and the kind of organisation it wants to be, but it also helps with the retention of both male and female staff. Its data shows that male employees who take paternity leave tend to stay 10 months longer at the organisation than men who do not take this.
“Actually talking about these benefits and showcasing that we are a progressive employer who is looking at attracting the best talent in the market helps us demonstrate our commitment in building a more gender-balanced workplace. We need to make sure that there’s parity because otherwise the responsibility of care falls on women,” Upadhyay concludes.
