Standard Chartered Drives Inclusion With Enhanced Global Parental Leave Benefits

Standard Chartered Bank has announced the rollout of enhanced global parental leave benefits, including in Zambia. From 1 September 20231, the Bank will standardise the amount of parental leave it offers, providing parents the option of undertaking more equitable caregiving responsibilities for their children.

With the enhanced benefits, employees can access a minimum of 20 weeks of paid parental leave, irrespective of gender, relationship status or how a child comes to permanently join an employee’s family.

The enhanced benefits have been designed to support working parents. This is part of the Bank’s commitment to fostering an inclusive culture, where employees are supported in balancing their personal lives with building successful careers.

Commenting on the new parental leave policy, Sonny Zulu, Standard Chartered Bank Zambia CEO, said, “We are delighted to launch this new parental leave policy, which applies to both female and male staff at Standard Chartered Bank. Welcoming a new child into a family is a huge responsibility for parents. This new policy will ensure that both parents – mothers and fathers – can access the necessary leave required to provide the care and bonding required when a new child comes into the family.”

Tanuj Kapilashrami, Group Head, Human Resources, Standard Chartered, said: “We continuously look at how we can introduce progressive benefits that drive inclusion, improve the employee experience, and help colleagues achieve their potential.

We believe benefits such as this help address globally prevalent societal norms around traditional roles, improve workforce participation and provide options to those who want to take up shared childcare responsibilities. This will positively impact families’ financial wellbeing and create a more inclusive workplace that supports each individual’s unique family planning choices.

We hope that our actions inspire other employers—across industries, around the world—to take similar actions. If we take a stand together, we can build a movement that creates a more inclusive society.”

– Standardised minimum 20-week parental leave will be implemented globally from 1 September. Some markets will implement the enhanced benefits at a later date once local regulatory approval has been obtained. The enhanced benefits will also currently not be applicable in a few markets due to planned divestitures of all or parts of our business in these markets.

– Where local law provides for parental leave entitlement greater than the minimum Group standard, local law will prevail.

– Local HR guidelines, including eligibility conditions and local statutory requirements may apply.

(Source: Standard Chartered Zambia)