Standard Chartered launches new Parental Leave plan

Standard Chartered parents now enjoy an enhanced Parental Leave plan, which came into effect across the group’s markets with effect from April 1, 2017.
Inspired by the desire to provide a place of work in tune with today’s demands on families and careers, the guidelines have been updated to reflect the changing needs of people. The bank has based the initiative on direct feedback from employees and has designed the guidelines to make the working lives of parents’ easier, offering support as they balance work, career and family responsibilities. The bank is proud to be setting a precedent on what employees are entitled to across its global footprint to support parents post childbirth or adoption. 
Standard Chartered Sri Lanka Head of Human Resources Deshika Rodrigo commenting on this initiative said, “At Standard Chartered we want to create an environment in which our colleagues can balance a successful career and their personal lives. As a full-time working mother of two children, I have no doubt that our enhanced Parental Leave policies will go a long way to alleviate the pressures of parenthood and career. These changes will provide a flexible working environment to enable us to work at our best and deliver for our clients, whilst also enabling the time and space for fulfilling personal and family obligations.”
Standard Chartered’s launch is announced at a time when the Government of Sri Lanka is also considering ameliorating the position of working mothers with regard to providing the same maternity leave benefits for both private and state sector employees quoting Labour and Trade Union Relations Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne. 
Standard Chartered employees have already seen some of the changes across the bank – such as the new Flexible Working Practices – which give people more choice about when and where they work. Parental leave is provided to support employees and their families around the time of childbirth or adoption. It includes maternity leave, paternity leave and adoption leave. The changes include an increase to fully-paid maternity leave to 20 calendar weeks, an increase to fully-paid paternity and adoption leave for spouses or partners to two calendar weeks. 
Standard Chartered’s guidelines provide the freedom for countries to choose to offer more paid or unpaid leave based on local practices. Additionally, in reiteration of the spirit of the changes, employees no longer need a specified period of tenure at the bank to be eligible for these parental leave benefits, which will be paid continuously during the leave period. Staff returning to work after parental leave, may also explore the possibility of a flexible working practices arrangement. This can help refresh skills and support the transition back to work, whilst settling in new arrangements at home, such as childcare.