Pinsent Masons – Finalist 2023 – Best for Fathers sponsored by Babbu
The work Pinsent Masons has undertaken to address gender inequality has resulted in a supportive culture for fathers and policies that empower them to take a more active role in caring, evident in the take-up of new family leave.
Family-first policies
Pinsent Masons launched a Global Family Leave policy in 2022, allowing everyone up to 16 weeks fully paid leave, irrespective of gender or office location. This leave can be taken at any point in the first year. Alternatively, fathers can take a period of Shared Parental Leave or Adoption Leave (also covering surrogacy) which goes beyond statutory pay to match enhanced maternity pay. Not only does the policy recognise the importance of the first year, but it also demonstrates a commitment to equal parenting. Pinsent Masons have taken a global approach to increase consistency and parity in their family-friendly commitment, offering the enhanced leave in all their offices despite the variation of statutory family leave across jurisdictions.
For those on a fertility journey, the Fertility Policy gives partners the right to the same amount of paid leave for medical appointments, so they can fully support their partners going through fertility treatment. Pinsent Masons recognise the challenge of unexpected caring emergencies, so offer five days paid leave to help to alleviate some of the burden faced when a caring emergency arises.
A culture of support
All employees can utilise the fully flexible agile working model from day one of employment. Now fully embedded in the culture and proactively promoted, parents and carers have the autonomy to decide on location and how best to structure their day to enable them to meet their caring responsibilities as well as the needs of the business.
Fatherhood is embraced, evident in initiatives such as the hosting of Bring Your Child to Work Days and the profiling of fatherhood journeys by the senior leadership team. The Family Matters Network (FMN) is sponsored by a Group Head who promotes family-friendly work practices, and the network coordinates webinars and speaker events throughout the year. A Working Fathers sub-group of FMN was established to offer an additional support network and discussion forum for fathers and partners who have children or caring responsibilities, thereby reducing stigma and promoting role models.
The measure of success
Since the launch in April 2022, 62 fathers and partners have taken advantage of the Global Family Leave policy, taking an average of 15 weeks leave within the first year – an average increase of 400% to the length of family leave, including paternity and Shared Parental leave, that fathers and partners took in the year prior to the launch.
