[UK] NatWest’s male bankers granted a year off for fatherhood

NatWest has told its male bankers that they may take a full year off when they become a father, as part of moves to reinvent itself as more family-friendly, MSN reports.

In 2023, the bank will introduce a policy that allows all new parents to take up to a year off regardless of their gender, of which half will be fully paid. Equal paid parental leave is becoming increasingly common but NatWest is an outlier in offering fathers a full year off.

It previously offered men only two weeks of statutory paternity leave on full pay.

By offering all new parents the same pay and leave entitlements, chief executive Alison Rose reportedly said NatWest hopes to support "wider cultural change by promoting a shared approach to childcare responsibilities early on".

Ms Rose became the first-ever woman to lead one of the UK’s big banks in 2019. She said that the bank wants "to do more to help families thrive".

This is just the latest example of the lender racing to overhaul its image. In August it said it would pay for transgender staff to get privately-funded hormone treatment and earlier in the year it reportedly introduced pronouns and phonetic name spellings on new bamboo branch badges.

It has also reviewed the wording of its employment policies to "ensure language and scenarios are LGBT+ inclusive" and changed its absence and sick leave rules to include time off for people who are transitioning.

The changes are part of the banking sector's attempts to distance itself from its "pale, male and stale" image and attract a younger and more diverse workforce.

British banks are following in the footsteps of American rivals such as Goldman Sachs, which reportedly told London staff years ago that they can have free 'sex-change' surgery and fertility treatments. It was also the first UK company to ship working mothers’ breast milk home if they work overseas.

Formerly known as the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest almost toppled Britain's financial system in 2008 when it was bailed out by the government for £45bn after then-chancellor Alistair Darling was told it was within hours of running out of money. 

Taxpayers held a majority stake in NatWest until March this year when a share buyback brought public ownership down to 48 per cent.

Source: MSN

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

NatWest has told its male bankers that they may take a full year off when they become a father, as part of moves to reinvent itself as more family-friendly, MSN reports.

In 2023, the bank will introduce a policy that allows all new parents to take up to a year off regardless of their gender, of which half will be fully paid. Equal paid parental leave is becoming increasingly common but NatWest is an outlier in offering fathers a full year off.

It previously offered men only two weeks of statutory paternity leave on full pay.

By offering all new parents the same pay and leave entitlements, chief executive Alison Rose reportedly said NatWest hopes to support "wider cultural change by promoting a shared approach to childcare responsibilities early on".

Ms Rose became the first-ever woman to lead one of the UK’s big banks in 2019. She said that the bank wants "to do more to help families thrive".

This is just the latest example of the lender racing to overhaul its image. In August it said it would pay for transgender staff to get privately-funded hormone treatment and earlier in the year it reportedly introduced pronouns and phonetic name spellings on new bamboo branch badges.

It has also reviewed the wording of its employment policies to "ensure language and scenarios are LGBT+ inclusive" and changed its absence and sick leave rules to include time off for people who are transitioning.

The changes are part of the banking sector's attempts to distance itself from its "pale, male and stale" image and attract a younger and more diverse workforce.

British banks are following in the footsteps of American rivals such as Goldman Sachs, which reportedly told London staff years ago that they can have free 'sex-change' surgery and fertility treatments. It was also the first UK company to ship working mothers’ breast milk home if they work overseas.

Formerly known as the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest almost toppled Britain's financial system in 2008 when it was bailed out by the government for £45bn after then-chancellor Alistair Darling was told it was within hours of running out of money. 

Taxpayers held a majority stake in NatWest until March this year when a share buyback brought public ownership down to 48 per cent.

Source: MSN

(Links and quotes via original reporting)