“We want to show parents that there is hope, that there are companies who care about their employees” – Harriet Morton-Liddle, Nugget Savings
An Edinburgh investment manager has been named as the UK company with the most generous parental leave.
Analysis of the parental leave packages provided by more than 800 businesses has rated Baillie Gifford in the number one spot. The Edinburgh-founded and headquartered investment partnership employs some 1,700 people and has ten offices worldwide.
It offers 26 weeks at 100 per cent of the employee’s basic salary and then 13 weeks at 50 per cent of their basic salary for those taking maternity and paternity leave. The policy is a day one benefit for both mothers and fathers.
The research was conducted by Nugget Savings, which says it is “dedicated to helping parents financially prepare for parenthood”. It analysed the parental leave packages submitted by its community of more than 200,000 parents-to-be. To authenticate the data, each user has to submit their LinkedIn profile, so Nugget can verify if they are a current or past employee.
Katie Guild, co-founder of Nugget Savings, said: “Nugget Savings was born to help parents to financially plan for parenthood. We want parents who are expecting to have full peace of mind knowing money won’t be a worry. This list was created to champion the companies that are doing just that.
“The very best policies are those that are inclusive. So we wanted to highlight the companies offering great packages for both parents, parents who are struggling to conceive and parents who are going through baby loss. What we noticed with this list is that not only are the parental leave packages incredible, but many of the companies are also championing work-life balance and female leadership which is fantastic to see, and invaluable for working mothers.”
The businesses were ranked on their parental policy rating – with a Nugget rating of one meaning the employer offers a policy that provides six months or more leave at full pay. Nugget then sorted the results by which companies offer the highest pay and leave. They then filtered results by companies offering enhanced support such as gender-equal policies, IVF funding, egg freezing and miscarriage support.
Property consultancy Knight Frank grabbed second place in the survey, with property platform Zoopla taking third spot. Financial services giant JP Morgan Chase was in fourth place, Ticketmaster in fifth and Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group in sixth spot.
Companies’ parental leave policies are often shrouded in secrecy. Nugget said that lack of transparency could open prospective parents up to potential discrimination, by having to ask for the maternity policy at the job interview stage. Likewise, current employees can find parental leave policies difficult to locate while working at a company, but don’t want to ask management or HR for fear of being passed up for promotion.
Harriet Morton-Liddle, co-founder of Nugget Savings, added: “The timing of this list is no coincidence. Birth rates are dropping, maternity pay has been called ‘excessive’ and many families are struggling to shoulder the costs that come with being a parent. We want to show parents that there is hope, that there are companies who care about their employees and want to support employees who are or wish to become parents.”
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