Jan Bibby, Chief People Officer at Contact Energy talks to the Herald regarding the launch of Contact Energy's parental leave policy for their workers. Video / Brett Phibbs
Contact Energy is the latest employer to up its parental leave perks as the tight labour market sees employers try to hang on to their workers rather than trying to find replacements.
The listed power company today announced it would offer primary caregivers a full salary top-up for the 26 weeks Government parental leave period, 3 per cent KiwiSaver for the duration of the worker’s parental leave and six months of flexible working, meaning employees can choose to work 80 per cent of their normal weekly hours but still receive full pay for their first six months.
As well as that it will give primary carers $5000 towards childcare, 10 days special leave for pregnancy-related appointments, three months free power for employees who are also customers and a food package with pre-prepared meals on arrival of the baby.
Employees who become parents but are not the primary carer will also be offered partner benefits of four weeks paid leave which can be taken over 13 months, three months free power as well as the meals on baby’s arrival.
Earlier this month Vodafone New Zealand said it would increase its parental leave perk by giving primary carers an extra 26 days of paid leave with partners receiving a matching 26 days allowance to be used flexibly over two years after the birth or adoption of a child.
It will also continue to pay KiwiSaver at a rate of 4 per cent for primary carers for up to a year while they are on leave. Primary carers would also have the government payment topped up to full pay for 22 weeks.
In August Z Energy said it would contribute 5 per cent towards KiwiSaver for all employees on parental leave for their entire parental leave period and pay employees working part-time, (over 20 hours a week) 5 per cent towards their KiwiSaver based on their full-time salary equivalent rather than their actual pro-rate pay.
Employers have also been under pressure to help address the 20 per cent retirement savings gap between men and women’s average KiwiSaver balances. In June research by NZIER found women who choose to leave the workforce or work part-time after having children could be forfeiting between $58,000 and $318,000 in retirement savings.
It also pointed to four key solutions for closing the gap one of which was employers continuing to make contributions to KiwiSaver while a worker was on parental leave.
Contact Energy’s chief people officer Jan Bibby said its move was about attracting and retaining the best talent from New Zealand and abroad.
“We have been transforming the way we work at Contact to go from good to great looking at how we provide flexibility for our people and make Contact one of the best places to work.
“As part of our transformation we took a good, hard look at our parental leave policy and realised it just wasn’t up to scratch. What we are launching today is among the best in New Zealand and is the right thing to work towards our promise to build a better Aotearoa.”
Jan Bibby, chief people officer at Contact Energy, was instrumental in Contact Energy's market-leading parental leave policy. Photo / Brett Phibbs / PhibbsVisuals
Bibby, who is a mother of two and grandmother of one, said she had to quit her job to become a mother and face a lot of barriers to return to work as a parent.
“We can’t help with those sleepless nights, or comforting a baby during teething, but we can help by providing financial security and significant flexibility for our expectant parents who are part of our Contact whānau.”
Jason Shoebridge, chief executive of NZIER, said Contact’s scheme was particularly generous.
Its latest research found only 8.9 per cent of New Zealand organisations that employed over 20 people topped up the salary of staff on parental leave for 26 weeks while only 6.4 per cent continued to contribute to KiwiSaver.
Agnes Naera, Global Women chief executive, said it actively worked with businesses to take a more people-centred approach to leadership and organisational policies.
“One of the key measures of the success of this is a more holistic view of employee wellness and their sense of belonging.
“The ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ concept is still relevant today but in modern day society our ‘village’ has changed. Our village is now a wider net that incorporates all elements of our person – not only our cultural and societal communities but our workplace; as for many of us this is where we spend a large chunk of our time.
“If we see more businesses continue to imbed systems like this that support employees to show up as their best selves both at work and at home and the myriad of pressures that come with this, it will have a positive impact on the economic future of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
