Gender neutral access to 16-weeks paid parental leave and additional provisions for IVF, Fostering, Adoption, Surrogacy, and loss.

GroupM New Zealand has rolled out a new progressive parental leave policy as part of Strive, its overarching Future of Work program. It includes gender-neutral access to 16-weeks paid leave for both parents, as well as extra policies for people going through IVF, adoption, fostering, or surrogacy, and importantly, for people suffering from the loss of a baby.

Strive was introduced in January to provide all New Zealand employees at GroupM and its agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker and recently created EssenceMediaCom, a new approach to flexibility. It includes updates to parental and career’s leave, mental health and wellbeing, international mobility, and beyond.

Chris Riley: says: “Through Strive, we're investing in building a workplace in New Zealand that provides a better work life experience for our people. As we continue to shape the next era of media, we’re creating a place that is set up for what our people want in this post-pandemic world. Everyone’s experience is different, and we want to support our people in these moments that matter.”

The new Parental Leave Policy enables gender equity and an improved experience for all parents. All parents will be eligible for 16 weeks paid leave as a Primary Caregiver and GroupM and its agencies will also pay Superannuation during the paid and unpaid portion of parental leave.

Employees undergoing IVF treatment we will be able to access up to 3 paid days leave for each cycle, with 1 day available for partners or spouses.

GroupM New Zealand will offer the same 16 weeks Full Paid For parents going through Adoption, Fostering and Surrogacy, GroupM will offer up to 5 days special leave to support any appointments or meetings they may need to attend.

Aimee Buchanan, GroupM Australia & New Zealand CEO, says: “Making advertising work better for people starts with us. I hope that we see a more balanced approach to parental leave that supports both parents being a primary caregiver to their young families, and that by paying Superannuation, we can help address the financial burden often felt by women who take a career break to have children.”

If an individual experiences stillbirth, GroupM will support them with access to the full 16 weeks paid parental leave. For any employee who suffers a loss of pregnancy between 12 and 20 weeks GroupM will offer 8 weeks of special parental leave and it’s providing 5 additional days of leave for miscarriage or early pregnancy loss (under 12 weeks).

All GroupM New Zealand employees are eligible after they’ve passed probation regardless of how long they have been with the business.

Ben Dufty, GroupM Director of People & Operations, experienced the strain IVF treatment puts on families with his wife, Bianca.

He says: “I know first-hand how tough IVF can be as my wife and I went through it to conceive our first child. The mental and physical toll it can take can be enormous particularly for the individual who is receiving the treatments. A supportive workplace can make all the difference, and our mission to make advertising work better for people, starts with us. It’s important for us to support people in GroupM however they become a parent, including through IVF, Adoption, Fostering or Surrogacy, and particularly through the tough times that are hardest to talk about.”

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