Aviva announces equal paid parental leave

Aviva announces today a new group-wide policy to offer men and women equal parental leave. Parents employed by Aviva will be eligible to the same amount of paid and unpaid time off, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or how they became a parent (birth, adoption or surrogacy).

The new policy is part of Aviva’s strategy to create a diverse and inclusive working culture in which barriers to career progression are removed.

In the UK, Aviva is offering up to one year of leave, of which 26 weeks’ is at full basic pay* for each parent employed by the company within the first 12 months of a child’s arrival. This applies to employees in all UK offices and locations, with no eligibility criteria relating to service length or earnings threshold. Aviva’s new parental leave policy entitlement includes:

• Equal amount of paid and unpaid parental leave when a new child arrives.
• Includes full-time and part-time employees across all levels of the company.
• No requirement to share the parental leave between parents.
• If both parents are employees of Aviva, they will each have their own entitlement to leave and pay, which they can take at the same time.

The new parental leave policy will be offered to Aviva employees who become a parent on or after the 19th November 2017 in the UK, Ireland, France, Singapore and Canada. Aviva will be working to extend this to all other Aviva businesses within the next year.

The amount of time off and pay is determined by each local business with the intention Aviva’s parental leave policy is market leading in each country.

Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aviva plc said:

“I want to live in a world where the only criteria for success is someone’s talent, not their gender. Treating parents equally will help make this happen. We want Aviva to be a progressive, inclusive, welcoming place to work. It’s good for our people and it’s also good business sense.”

Sarah Morris, Chief People Officer at Aviva, said:

“We think this is one of the most ground-breaking, family-friendly policies offered by any employer. It’s time to equalise parental leave and create a level playing field for men and women who want to take time out from their career to spend with their family.

“This will transform the first year of parenthood for many families, giving them the opportunity to spend precious time together. It’s one of our commitments to build a more inclusive and diverse culture at Aviva.”

To watch a video of our people talking about this news click here.

Case studies of Aviva employees who may benefit from this policy are available for interview.

-Ends-

* Parental leave pay received over 26 weeks will be equivalent to an employee’s pensionable pay.

Enquiries:

Media

Heleana Greeves +44 (0)20 7662 0405

Pete Thain + 44 (0) 7387 234796

Notes to editors:

• Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers.
• In the UK we are the leading insurer serving one in every four households and have strong businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE100 index.  
• Aviva’s asset management business, Aviva Investors, provides asset management services to both Aviva and external clients, and currently manages over £340 billion in assets. Total group assets under management at Aviva group are £450 billion.
• Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out £34.4 billion in benefits and claims in 2016.
• By serving our customers well, we are building a business which is strong and sustainable, which our people are proud to work for, and which makes a positive contribution to society. 
• The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our image library, research reports and our news release archive. 
• For an introduction to what we do and how we do it, please click here www.aviva.com/about-us
• Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/avivaplc/ 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aviva-plc
• For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva
• We have a Globelynx system for broadcast interviews. Please contact the Press Officer noted above if you would like to make a booking.