QBE has reworked its benefits for its employees, by enhancing family leave policies.
The insurer is now offering its UK employees their basic salary over a 26-week period for both paternity and maternity leave. QBE is also offering up to 52 weeks of parental leave. The company revealed that the change comes as QBE looks to equalise the amount of leave available to new parents – regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, or how employees became a parent.
“It’s been shown that offering extended paternity leave has wide-reaching benefits for co-parents themselves, their children, and employers who gain a more engaged and loyal workforce,” said QBE Europe chief people officer Emma Higgins. “This also has a positive impact on gender equality beyond QBE and reflects the needs of dual career families, as time away from work to care for a child can be more equally split.”
Higgins added that the move reflects QBE’s goal of becoming a “marketing-leading employer” that can attract and retain the best people.
In addition to the enhanced parental benefits, QBE announced that it would be introducing several new wellbeing-focused initiatives for its UK employees starting this year. These include increasing the annual leave allowance to 30 days; expanding private medical cover to include fertility investigations and treatment, menopause, gender dysphoria and assessment and early support for autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia; and the launch of digital health app Peppy for employees.
“We have listened to what our employees have been telling us they want from an employer and many of the ideas behind the changes have been generated by our employee inclusion networks,” said Higgins. “These new benefits further enhance our offering, which also includes our high trust approach to hybrid working. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to take some bold steps in making our benefits offering more inclusive.”
Higgins also mentioned that while the announced changes apply to UK employees for now, revamping the offering for QBE’s other operations outside of the country is a “core priority.”
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