Not a step, but a leap forward on the road to gender equality: six months of parental leave for women and men, without distinction. It is the Swedish Volvo that presses the accelerator to eliminate the gender gap. It is not an initiative only for Sweden, which has always been at the forefront of welfare. The automaker said it will grant its employees around the world the right to paid parental leave of 24 weeks which is about six months.
The novelty is al male. In fact, the mothers already had this period of leave. For men, on the other hand, the period of leave depended on the laws of the various countries where the company is located. This led to great disparities because there are countries where there are no days for fathers or there are very few, at least fully paid.
In Italy you get to 7 days with 100% pay, then fathers can have 6 months of leave but with the paycheck at 30% and families do not want it because it is usually the man who has the highest salary.
European primacy goes to Sweden, which makes no difference between mother and father: 480 days of leave until the child is nine years old. Finland has more than 6 months per parent. In Germany, maternity leave is paid 100% for 14 weeks.
In the case of Volvo the 24 weeks of paternity leave will be paid at 80% of the salary. The system applies to all employees with at least one year of service anywhere in the world. The intent is to hit the gap in terms of gender equality and promote female working careers.
“We want encourage more men to take the opportunity to take parental leaveHanna Fager, head of human resources at Volvo, told France Press. There is a marketing part to the whole initiative: sponsoring welfare actions that improve the perception of the corporate brand. The program has already had an experimental phase in 2019 with sales associates in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 46% of adhesions were from fathers.
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