Aviva’s paid paternal leave benefits first-time parents

This article is more than 12 months old

Oct 22, 2018 06:00 am

He was one of the first employees to benefit when Aviva introduced 16 weeks of paid paternal leave in November last year.

Mr Oon Wei Long and his wife, Madam Carol Lim, who also works in Aviva, were expecting their first child. They got married in 2015.

The 34-year-old health insurance underwriter told The New Paper that Aviva was generous as most companies offered only two weeks.

He said: "Compared with other working fathers, I had a lot more hands-on opportunities with my newborn."

Madam Lim, 32, a group claims executive, said her husband was home with her for three months after their confinement woman left.

She said: "Together, we built up confidence in taking care of the baby, and most importantly, we had the opportunity to really bond with our daughter."

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Mr Oon added that Aviva's emphasis on work-life balance helps him juggle work and family, with practices such as employees ending work an hour earlier every third Friday of the month.

Aviva is one of the progressive employers that signed the Employers' Pledge of Fair Employment Practices with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep), which promotes the adoption of fair, responsible and progressive employment practices and helps employers build progressive workplaces.

It has also adopted the Tripartite Standards, on the employment of term contract employees, flexible work arrangements, grievance handling, recruitment practices, procurement of services from media freelancers, unpaid leave for unexpected care needs and age-friendly workplace practices.

Mr Nishit Majmudar, chief executive officer at Aviva, said: "At Aviva, we want to foster a culture that encourages our people to be closely involved in their child's early years - a precious experience that we believe should be shared equally among both dads and mums.

"Aviva is a strong advocate of work-life balance, and has been committed to supporting our employees' lives outside of work through a range of flexi-working arrangements. Introducing the new parental leave policy was a bold and iconic action that strongly aligns with Aviva's values, and allows us to be truly inclusive."

MOTIVATED

Mrs Roslyn Ten, general manager of Tafep, said employees will be motivated when they feel valued and respected.

She said: "I am very heartened to see all employers who implement work-life programmes do care deeply about their employees' welfare, both at work and outside of work.

"Having schemes like Aviva's extended parental leave allows young parents like Wei Long and Carol to better manage both their work and personal responsibilities.

"Happy employees and employers certainly spell success for everyone."

Tafep is a first-time sponsor for this year's Big Walk, which will be held at the Singapore Sports Hub on Nov 18.