Deutsche Bank to implement gender neutral parental leave for Asia-Pacific staff
Starting next year, Deustche Bank will be implementing a gender neutral parental leave policy for its employees across the Asia-Pacific region.
In its announcement on Thursday (1 December), the banking and financial services company added that it would also be aligning its surrogacy and adoption leave practices to fall in line with other parental leave entitlements.
These changes are aimed at making the bank’s parental leave policy more progressive and gender-friendly, while also encouraging more fathers to take active roles in caring for their newborns or newly adopted children, the bank said.
“This new parental leave policy for Asia Pacific recognises all primary caregivers equally. It aims to be more equitable and family friendly, enabling greater flexibility and choice for all parents to manage caregiving alongside their careers,” said Jeremy Broome, Deutsche Bank’s head of human resources (Asia Pacific).
More options for fathers
Under the changes, parents of a newborn or newly adopted child below seven years old will be able to choose either parent as the child’s primary caregiver, who will then share in the parental leave entitlements as dictated by the respective countries in which they work.
For instance, a new father may choose to be the primary caregiver after the child’s mother returns to work within the parental leave period, at which point the father will be entitled to the remaining weeks of paid parental leave.
Employees seeking to have a child’s father be assigned the primary caregiver role will have to take out a statutory declaration before starting leave on or after the birth or adoption of the child.
The new policy, which takes effect from 1 January 2017, will benefit staff across the 15 Asia-Pacific countries where the bank operates, including the over 2,000 staff members of its Singapore branch. In line with Singapore’s national policies, employees here will be entitled to 17 weeks of parental leave.
At a “Fatherhood and the Workplace” event organised by the bank on Thursday in conjunction with the new policy announcement, fatherhood expert Dr Michael Kaufman, spoke of the changing role of fatherhood and the struggles men today face in living up to unrealistic expectations of masculinity.
During a later panel discussion session, Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin, the event’s guest of honour, spoke frankly about how more fathers in Singapore need to be actively involved in the lives of their children as there is no substitute for a parent’s presence in a child’s life during his or her crucial early development years.
Regarding Deutsche Bank’s new policy, the minister said it is “heartening” to see more companies adopting pro-family initiatives to “support employees in their parenting journeys”.
“Parents should take every opportunity to actively bond with their children from the time they are born, to guide them and mould their their values and characters in a positive way… I would like to encourage more fathers to make good use of the leave enhancements, and make the personal choice to be present for their children as they grow up,” he said.
