Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has announced a number of enhancements to its benefits programme, including stipends for egg retrieval and egg donation, available to all of its 36,000 global employees effective from 1 November 2019.
With this new benefit, employees will be able to access a stipend to recoup the costs of egg retrieval, for up to $10,000 (£7,760.85), and egg donation, for up to $20,000 (£15,521.70).
The organisation has already supported employees for more than 10 years by reimbursing the costs of adoption and surrogacy up to the value of $5,000 (£3,880). As of 1 November, this has been increased to $10,000 for adoption and $20,000 for surrogacy.
These enhancements were made as the result of employee views expressed in the organisation's most recent people survey, which took place in 2017, as well as a benefits and wellness survey earlier in 2019.
The changes will also see employees entitled to paid parental leave whether they have become new parents through birth, surrogacy or adoption, and regardless of gender or caregiver status.
The global parenting leave policy will entitle employees to 20 weeks of leave, raising employees' entitlements from the previous 16 weeks in a number of locations, including the US and Asia-Pacific Region. In locations where the statutory allowance is higher, this will be reflected in the new leave policy; for example, UK employees will now be entitled to 26 weeks of leave.
Additionally, a new global policy will provide employees with four additional weeks of paid leave to care for family members who are suffering from a serious health condition, taking military deployment or undergoing foster placement.
David Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer at Goldman Sachs, said: "I do think a lot of people will take advantage of the benefits, and I think people should take advantage of the benefits. But at the end of the day, it's a personal choice. It's different for different people.
“Certainly, the top leadership of this firm is encouraging people to take advantage of the support that we're offering around the life event of having a child. I think we do have that kind of culture.
"If someone were talking to me personally [about whether they should take the leave], I would say to them, 'it's such a special time in your life, go take advantage of it and do what you can to support your family. We're offering this benefit because we think it's something that will benefit you both in the short run and in the long run.'"
