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Nature to give employees 6 months paid parental leave

Strategic insights agency Nature has implemented a new parental leave policy, offering six months paid leave, or 26 weeks, parental leave. This represents nearly double the average length of paid leave at the majority of agencies in the advertising industry.

Nature said that its policy builds on its commitment to introducing “industry-leading employee culture and well-being initiatives across its Sydney and Melbourne offices”.

The six months, which includes superannuation, will include further additions including support for employees undergoing IVF, as Nature will provide two days of leave per cycle for two cycles per annum, including partner support. There is also pre-adoption and surrogacy support, also covering support partners.

Nature staff

Nature’s managing partner, Chris Crook, said: “People are our number one asset at Nature. Like all Australians, our people have been through some tough times over the past 18 months and we need to focus on caring for them and their overall well being.”

Crook also said that the new policy means that the agency can offer stability and surety to its employees during uncertain times, and that this move is about normalising care.

“We want to be as inclusive as possible and empower all our employees to feel free to make big life decisions without the stress of employment being part of the decision-making process.”

The policies apply in addition to any entitlement an employee has under the Australian Government Paid Parental Leave scheme.

Last month Clemenger Group implemented a new policy group-wide, allowing up to 20 weeks of parental leave for those who have been at its agencies for three or more years.

M&C Saatchi’s policy includes 12 weeks paid leave for primary carers, while IPG Mediabrands offers a minimum of 12 weeks parental leave, with a week being added on for each year of tenure up to 16 weeks.

Publicis Groupe offers staff leave of up to 18 weeks (based on tenure) if they are the primary carer of a new-born or adopted child.

WPP has company-wide parental leave policies for all wholly-owned businesses in Australia and New Zealand. This include a provision for up to 16 weeks of paid leave for primary carers and 2-4 weeks paid leave for secondary carers, depending on employment length.

Nature said that this adds to its existing well-being initiatives, which include two days additional annual leave for all full-time employees, and tenure based annual leave, rewarding employees with extra dates based on how long they have been with the company. “Feel-good Fridays” also begin in October, allowing all employees to take off one Friday a month in the final quarter of 2021.

Justin Connally, partner and managing director in Melbourne, said: “Our new parental leave policy goes beyond standard care for our people, and we think it’s the best in our industry.”

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