This Nigerian bank is now giving men paternity leave

A Nigerian bank, Access Bank Plc announced a change in its human resources policy for its staff. This new policy allows men to be entitled to paid leave after the birth of their child by their spouse.

This new policy was disclosed by Access Bank’s Head of Human Resources, Bolaji Agbede in a statement which also stated that the policy would be effective from the beginning of January 2018.

The policy seeks to foster an inclusive workplace which includes giving paid leave to all new parents at the bank including all mothers, fathers, adoptive and surrogate parents.

What are the details of the policy?

According to the statement, this new policy entails one week of fully paid paternity leave to male employees. It allows them to care for their offspring and spend some quality time with the new addition to their family while supporting the new mother who needs the break.

Also included in the new policy is a surrogacy or adoption leave with full pay for three calendar months for female employees of the bank.

"These benefits supplement the 12 weeks of paid leave Access Bank currently provides to birth mothers. The policy also complements the Bank’s existing health and flexible workplace benefits, which support work-life balance," the signed statement by Agbede added.

Agbede was quoted to have said that paid parental leave allows parents to truly bond with their new child, balance their work schedule and help reduce conflict with parental obligations.

Agbede said, "Studies have shown that fathers who take paternity leave are more likely to take an active role in childcare tasks and will continue to play this role long after the period of leave has ended. This new policy is an evidence of the bank’s support to employees during this wonderful but challenging time in their lives."

She added, "Furthermore, a pregnant employee who has been in the bank’s employment for 12 consecutive months also has the option of six calendar months’ maternity leave with two-thirds of full month pay, while the surrogacy or adoption leave period is three calendar months with full pay or six calendar months leave with two-thirds of full month pay."

Agbede said that paid parental leave allows parents to truly bond with their new child, balance their work schedule and help reduce conflict with parental obligations.