Jo Keddie shares her insights with The Banker on the cultural realties of seemingly generous parental leave policies
A recent article by The Banker examines the evolving landscape of parental leave policies and their impact on employees, highlighting which UK banks offer the most generous benefits. Companies are increasingly recognising the importance of these policies in promoting work-life balance and supporting families.
However, Jo Keddie, Partner and Head of our Employment and Partnerships team, warns that despite seemingly generous policies, discrimination against women in the banking sector remains widespread. Jo and the Forsters’ employment team have been involved in an increasing number of discrimination claims by women against banks in recent years, including maternity leave claims, suggesting that the reality does not always align with these seemingly generous parental leave policies.
Jo also notes that the tough economic climate, marked by widespread redundancies and pressure on banks to perform, complicates the situation. For example, Lloyds recently announced 500 job losses and office closures, while HSBC is scaling back its equity capital markets and M&A activities. This environment makes employees hesitant to fully utilise parental leave policies due to job security concerns.
Additionally, Jo points out that banks often have a negative attitude towards shared parental leave compared to other sectors like public relations, real estate, and law, where there has been an encouraging increase in parents taking shared parental leave. Despite policies advocating for it, culturally there is a long way to go before the banking sector truly embraces the use of shared parental leave.
Read the full article here (behind a paywall).
Subcribe to news and viewsWhich UK banks have the most generous parental leave? Lenders boost policies but employment lawyers sceptical of culture change
https://www.thebanker.com/content/77f58a8b-9295-4771-9232-ce602bed0336
