Santander has increased its maternity and paternity leave for employees as part of a package of benefits designed to cater for the needs of working parents.
The bank’s package Passport to Parenting will provide most employees 14 weeks maternity pay followed by 25 weeks’ statutory pay. Fathers-to-be will also be entitled to two weeks’ paid leave. If both parents work for Santander they will be able to swap the second half of the maternity leave period with their partner, providing increased flexibility.
In addition, a workplace nursery partnership allows employees to place their children in an independently assessed nursery near their home or work.
Meanwhile, a pregnancy accreditation programme will allow pregnant women to source vital health information supplied by Tommy’s – charity for parents-to-be.
The Santander Flexible Saver for Kids account will reimburse up to the first £40 paid into an account opened in the new baby’s name. A birthday gift of recognition for service of their parents will see a further contribution from the company of £20 on the fifth, 10th and 15th anniversary of the child’s birth or placement date for those that have adopted, for the length of the parents’ employment..
Barbara Hobday, head of employee relations and diversity at Santander, said: “We want to achieve a fully inclusive workforce, one which best reflects the diversity of the communities we serve and one where we can attract and retain top talent. Families have been a key focus for Santander over the past three years and the Passport to Parenting programme has been launched following a period of consultation with our unions to best understand what our colleagues are looking for from a work-life balance offering.”
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