Richard Branson offers dads a year's paid paternity leave

Sir Richard Branson. Photo / NZME.

Male employees at Virgin are being offered what appears to be Britain's most generous paternity leave deal.

New dads employed by Virgin will be able to take up to a year's paternity leave on full pay, the company's founder Sir Richard Branson has announced.

The offer extends to employees of both sexes, and goes far beyond the new laws on shared parental leave that came into effect in April. Under the new laws, mothers and fathers may divide up to 50 weeks parental leave between them, as they see fit.

At Virgin, men who have been with the company for at least four years will be entitled to a year's paternity leave on full pay. Those who have been with Virgin for two years or less will receive 25 per cent of their salary.

In a statement, Sir Richard said, "If you take care of your employees they will take care of your business. As a father and now a granddad to three wonderful grandchildren, I know how magical the first year of a child's life is but also how much hard work it takes."

However, according to the Independent the offer is so far only available to employees of Virgin Management, Virgin Group's brand licencing and investment division, which has fewer than 140 employees.

Last year, Sir Richard announced he was offering employees the opportunity to take unlimited holidays throughout the year in an effort to boost morale, creativity and productivity.

Writing on his blog at the time, the Virgin boss said: "It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she feels like taking a few hours, a day, a week or a month off, the assumption being that they are only going to do it when they feel a hundred per cent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business - or, for that matter, their careers."

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