National Australia Bank (NAB) launched its enhanced parental leave policy in Asia in June 2016 to ensure that parental leave is available to all eligible employees regardless of gender and marital status.
This includes the option for primary carers to take unpaid leave for a period of up to 12 months, of which NAB pays up to 12 weeks leave, without impacting the individual’s job scope or career path.
Kate Colley, Head of People, Asia and International, comments: “At NAB we want to be Australia and New Zealand’s most respected bank – a key way we can achieve that vision is to understand and support our people by making it easy for them to reach their career and life goals.
“The Asia launch of the parental leave policy now aligns NAB in Asia with our Group’s efforts in supporting married and single parents of children – biological or adopted – through greater work flexibility when they are the primary or secondary carer.”
“As our understanding increases of the broader positive, cognitive and emotional outcomes for children, when fathers are given the opportunity to participate more fully in family life and childcare, we are proud to encourage our male employees in Asia to benefit from the parental leave policy.”
“In doing so, we also want to better support and advance women’s careers by creating a culture that provides equal opportunity to all parents, regardless of gender and life goals.”
As per the leave policy, parental leave is available to all permanent employees who have completed at least 12 months continuous service at the time of taking leave.
Employees with less than 12 months continuous service or serving the notice period of separation are not eligible for parental leave other than regulatory required, however they may be considered for a period of unpaid leave.
Asia parental leave policy considers the needs of employees from the time they are expecting or adopting a child through to returning to work after a period of parental leave including various leave options and working arrangements.
The following types of parental leave are available to NAB employees, they are:
Pre-natal Leave – Before birth or adoption of a child
Pre-natal leave is available to employees before the birth or adoption of their child so they can attend medical appointments during pregnancy or attend meetings with a placement agency / local recognised organisation or medical practitioner/s when adopting a child.
A pregnant employee can request pre-natal leave to attend appointments (capped to a total up to the normal weekly working hours).
An employee who is the partner of the birth parent can request pre-natal leave of up to 8 hours per pregnancy to attend medical appointments. An employee who is adopting a child can request leave capped to their normal weekly working hours to attend appointments.
Primary Carer’s Leave
Primary carer’s leave is unpaid leave for a period up to 12 months of which NAB pays up to at minimum of 12 weeks leave (higher in some markets). An employee can apply for primary carer’s leave if they are the primary care giver for the child on its birth or within the first 12 months of the birth (regardless of gender).
Secondary Carer’s Leave
Secondary carer’s leave for eligible employees is up to 2 weeks paid and 1 week unpaid leave and may be taken at any time within 12 months of the birth of their child.
Adoption Leave
At the time of the adoption of their child an eligible employee is entitled to the following primary carer’s or secondary carer’s leave.
Special Parental Leave
Where an employee is suffering from an illness not related to the direct consequences of pregnancy, an employee may take any paid sick leave to which she is entitled in lieu of, or in addition to, unpaid special parental leave.
Where an employee not then on maternity leave suffers illness related to the pregnancy, the employee may take paid sick leave to which the employee is entitled and further unpaid special parental leave as a registered medical practitioner certifies as necessary before returning to work.
Where the pregnancy of an employee not then on primary carer’s leave terminates after 20 weeks other than by the birth of a living child, the employee will receive up to 12 weeks paid parental leave. The employee may take a further period of unpaid special parental leave as required.
In addition, an employee is entitled to a period of unpaid special maternity leave if the employee is not fit for work because the employee has been pregnant and the pregnancy ends within 20 weeks of the expected date of birth, other than by the birth of a living child.
