Tuesday, 24 November 2020: Zurich New Zealand has announced a new Family Care Policy that recognises all family circumstances and supports a fair, diverse and inclusive workplace, further supporting its accolade as one of New Zealand’s Top Insurance Workplaces as recognised in the Insurance Business NZ Awards in 2020 and 2019.
Acknowledging that every family is different, the new approach to Family Care will support every employee regardless of gender, gender identity or sexual orientation and enable everyone to take paid leave as they welcome new family members or manage various circumstances related to family care.
Effective 21 December 2020, the Family Care Policy will replace Zurich’s existing Parental Leave Policy. It has the following key inclusions:
- The new policy is inclusive of birth, adoption, surrogacy, IVF, miscarriage and stillbirth.
- Primary Parents – 16 weeks paid leave with the ability to request up to 2 years of leave.
- Co-Parents – 6 weeks paid leave plus additional unpaid leave.
- Paid leave is in addition to any Government-provided parental leave benefits.
- Removal of all tenure requirements, including probation.
- Annual and sick leave will continue to accrue during unpaid leave for primary parents.
Tim Plant, CEO, General Insurance, said, “The Family Care Policy is the next step in Zurich’s journey towards achieving equality for our people, as part of our wider aim to create a brighter, more sustainable workplace that puts our people first”.
Sue Maher, Head of Human Resources, said, “Our new Family Care Policy reflects the many different voices of our diverse workforce, ensuring inclusivity and better supporting the range of family circumstances we see across Australia today”.
To ensure Zurich is as inclusive as possible and appropriately reflects the reality of families today, the new policy was developed in consultation with two key employee resource groups – the Women’s Innovation Network and PrideZ – representing diverse voices across Zurich’s workforce.
Zurich’s approach to Family Care across New Zealand supports Zurich Group’s global aspiration to create a fair, diverse and inclusive workplace with progressive and flexible support for all employees.
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