Aviva: the UK insurer puts parental leave in place for second parents in five countries

Going forward, second parents employed by Aviva and currently working in France, the UK, Ireland, Canada and Singapore can, upon the birth or adoption of their child/children, benefit from real parental leave, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or the date they became Aviva employees. Full paid leave for 'the other' parents has been set at 10 weeks in France, 26 weeks in the UK, 12 weeks in Canada, 18 weeks in Ireland, and 16 weeks in Singapore. Anne-Sophie Curet, Chief peoples officer, Aviva France tells us more.
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  • What factor(s) drove this initiative?

Anne-Sophie Curet. The desire to further gender equality and enable female career advancement drove this decision. This is why second parents, regardless of gender, can also have leave time when a child arrives. We saw this as the opportune moment to act since younger generations had been calling for this. Many dads are topping up their leave times with holiday leave and some are even taking sabbaticals. We believed it was important to support this approa

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