Cushman & Wakefield has chosen International Men’s Day to announce that from 1 January 2020 it is to treble the paternity package offered to its male employees in the UK from two weeks to six weeks to enhance work-life balance and support modern working families.
The new package, ‘3+3’, will allow fathers to take three weeks fully paid leave from work upon the birth of a child, with the option to take a further three weeks paid leave anytime in the following 18 months. This package will be available to all types of parents, including those adopting, having a child through surrogacy and same sex parents.
The initiative was driven by the Work/Life and Gender groups within Inspire, Cushman & Wakefield’s UK Diversity & Inclusion programme.
George Roberts, Head of UK & Ireland at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “The arrival of a child is a joyous and life changing experience for both parents but for too many fathers, including myself, the time spent at home is all too brief. It just felt right that we should recognise the changing attitudes to not only work but also parenting when assessing what we can do to support our people. By offering six weeks fully paid leave to new fathers we are providing the tools that will support our entire workforce in better balancing their careers while starting, growing and supporting a family.”
The ‘3+3’ initiative is the latest in a raft of enhanced family-friendly policies that have been implemented by Cushman & Wakefield in the UK recent years. These include shared parental leave, 26 weeks’ enhanced statutory maternity pay, two-weeks fully paid ramping-back-up-time for mothers returning to work, special leave to care for dependents and flexible working policies.
Karen Clements, Inspire Chair and UK Executive Committee sponsor at Cushman & Wakefield, added: “The launch of the ‘3+3’ imitative is the result of a detailed consultative project by Inspire to review how our business can best support new parents and different ways of working. Family-friendly initiatives are essential to help both mothers and fathers craft a sustainable work-life balance that works for them.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s UK Diversity & Inclusion programme, Inspire, is dedicated to respecting differences and nurturing strengths across its UK workforce. Launched two years ago, the Inspire programme operates across six pillars: Gender; Unity (LGBT+); Mental & Physical Health; Work/Life Solutions; Advance (Socio-Economic); and Ethnicity & Culture.
The ‘3+3’ initiative is also fully backed by the CushParents support network which aims to support parents and carers with children of any age through both the challenges and opportunities of managing work alongside raising a family.
