Viva Energy has announced a new parental leave policy that will enable eligible employees to access 26 weeks of paid parental leave for babies born after 1 January 2023.
This enhanced parental leave policy will provide better support for working parents and builds on Viva Energy’s commitment to improving work-life balance for its employees and creating an inclusive and supportive work environment.
The extended paid leave, which was previously 14 weeks, is aimed at supporting parents with caring responsibilities and improving the balance between paid work and unpaid care.
Scott Wyatt, CEO, Viva Energy, said the enhanced parental leave policy, which was announced on International Women’s Day, will also help to close the gender pay gap.
“Most women take between six and 12 months leave after childbirth, with a significant proportion of this time taken as unpaid leave. This has a material impact on the short term and lifetime earnings capacity of women, while undertaking one of the most important roles in our society,” he said.
“This new policy positions Viva Energy as one of the small number of companies that is absolutely leading in this area and further demonstrates our commitment to improving equality and outcomes for both men and women.”
In 2017, Viva Energy took an industry-leading step towards addressing the gender retirement savings gap by introducing full superannuation entitlement for periods of paid and unpaid parental leave.
As well as the 26 week paid parental leave for primary carers, the new policy includes other leading entitlements such as the ability to take leave flexibly, support for miscarriage and people undergoing IVF, paid keeping-in-touch days, continued superannuation payments during periods of parental leave, and equivalent full-time superannuation payments for parents returning part-time after their leave for up to five years.
“This a very exciting and meaningful change, which will help us attract and retain the diverse talent which is needed to drive our business into the future,” Wyatt said.
“Together with our other parental care and flexible working policies, it will make a material difference to many people across the company and encourage other companies to follow our lead.”
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