Virgin Money offers equal parental leave for all with new colleague package

• Virgin Money launches new purpose-driven ‘A Life More Virgin’ employment package, offering equal family leave, 30 days’ holiday and an additional five paid wellbeing days to all colleagues from day one of their employment
• 60% of working parents would switch jobs for better parental leave
• One in seven (14%) working parents and expectant parents have already left a job due to poor parental leave

Virgin Money is today announcing its new benefits package to colleagues. The new ‘A Life More Virgin’ offering, which has been born out of Virgin Money’s purpose of ‘Making You Happier About Money’, builds on work through 2021 to maximise flexibility in terms of where, when and how people work and will provide everyone with the same parental leave, as well as the flexibility to choose how and when to take it.

Benefits will also include 30 days’ annual leave, plus five additional wellbeing days each year. Together with bank holidays and the option to purchase up to five additional days’ holiday, this means colleagues have the opportunity to take almost 50 days away from work each year.

All Virgin Money colleagues and new recruits will benefit from the package, including the parental leave rights and long-term sickness benefits, from day one of employment. This removes a significant career barrier for women and for those with long-term health concerns. Mothers, fathers and those looking to adopt can take up to 20 weeks fully paid leave and 52 weeks leave overall. Colleagues will have the flexibility to choose when to take it and when to receive pay.

To add even more flexibility, all colleagues whose role is not dependant on a specific location will be able to request to work anywhere in the UK, removing geographical boundaries for the majority. Location criteria will be removed for any non-store and non-hub based roles that are recruited in future, meaning location will not be a barrier for existing colleagues moving roles or new people joining the business.

Alongside the purpose driven new colleague benefits package, Virgin Money has published new research¹ revealing 60% of working parents would consider leaving their company because of poor parental leave on offer. Further to this, one in seven (14%) have already left a job due to being unsatisfied with the parental leave and almost a third (29%) of working parents feel maternity and paternity leave in the UK is generally outdated.

It’s not just parental leave which is important to parents. Other benefits workers expect their company to offer include 30 days annual leave (55%), wellbeing days (39%), private medical insurance (31%) and the opportunity to work remotely abroad each year (28%).

Syreeta Brown, Group Chief People and Communications Officer of Virgin Money comments: “Having recently joined Virgin Money, I can instantly see how our purpose of ‘Making You Happier About Money’ is driving everything we do. Our newly launched ‘A Life More Virgin’ benefits package is a clear demonstration of that purpose, underlining our commitment to providing a first-class colleague experience that we know will translate to a differentiating experience for customers.

“It offers a leading position on equal parental leave – from the first day anyone joins the business – with flexibility on how and when people take that leave. And with the opportunity to take almost 50 days away from work each year and flexibility on job location, the new benefits package is tailored to the work-life balance people are looking for post-pandemic.”

At a time when many UK businesses are finding it hard to recruit and retain talent, offering a comprehensive and market leading employee benefits package is vital. When asked what would encourage them to start working for a company, 42% of working parents and expectant parents said equal family leave. Meanwhile, more than half (58%) fear they will miss out on promotions or opportunities due to taking leave to start a family, while a further 52% are worried they’d lose their job.