New fathers at Sir Richard Branson’s company, Virgin Management, will be granted up to one year’s paternity leave on full pay under a new policy.
The policy applies to both men and women and includes parents who adopt children, The Independent reports.
The announcement comes after the UK government introduced new Shared Parental Leave legislation that allows parents to take 50 weeks a year between them.
On Virgin's webiste, it said the company wanted to "take it a step further by giving all employees at Virgin Management with four years or more service, enhanced shared parental leave pay up to 100% of salary for 52 weeks."
However Branson’s policy does have some conditions:
- Parents must have been with Virgin for at last four years to access the one year’s leave at full pay.
- People who have been with the company for less time will have a lower portion of their salaries paid.
- The offer only applies to staff at Virgin Management, the company's investment and brand-licencing firm, meaning it will only affect about 140 people.
After it was announced earlier this week, Virgin Management CEO Josh Bayliss said the policy was a progressive step forward.
“This is a ground-breaking move from Virgin Management, which demonstrates that the health and wellbeing of our people is at our core,” he said.
