Leading the Way to Family-Friendly Workplaces with Viva Energy
Viva Energy is making progress with pioneering policies that lead the way to family-friendly workplaces. As a company, they are committed to facilitating a smoother transition for working parents. With the introduction of their extended parental leave policy, eligible employees can now look forward to 26 weeks of paid parental leave. This change allows parents to spend longer at home with their new addition, increasing bonding time and creating memories that will last a lifetime.
But it's not just about the time off
Parental leave is crucial to providing working parents with the opportunity to take time off from work to care for their growing family and adjust to new family roles. The transition back to work can be challenging, and Viva Energy has taken the lead by bridging the gap between paid work and unpaid care. A longer period off work can also help with what's important to you as you recover from childbirth, allowing you to focus on your family, with reduced financial stress.
Walking the walk
In addition to the extended parental leave policy, Viva Energy is walking the walk to create a truly family-friendly workplace. The company offers a range of entitlements, including the ability to take leave flexibly, support for miscarriage and people undergoing IVF, paid keeping-in-touch days, continued superannuation payments during periods of parental leave, and full-time superannuation payments for parents returning part-time after their leave for up to five years.
Addressing the gender pay gap
One of the most significant benefits of these policies is their commitment to closing the gender pay gap. Women are disproportionately affected during this invaluable time of their lives, with longer periods of primary carers leave, which is often unpaid and therefore can have long-term financial effects. Viva Energy’s extended parental leave policy positions them as an employer that is breaking ground with their commitment to creating an inclusive workplace and providing much needed support for working parents.
“Most women take between six and 12 months leave after childbirth, with a significant proportion of this time taken as unpaid leave. This has a material impact on the short term and life time earnings capacity of women, while undertaking one of the most important roles in our society. This new policy positions Viva Energy as one of the small number of companies that is absolutely leading in this area and further demonstrates our commitment to improving equality and outcomes for both men and women.”
— Scott Wyatt, Chief Executive Officer Viva Energy
Progressive moves
Proud to be the front runners to provide parental leave and flexible working policies, they hope to inspire like minded companies to take action to create more family-friendly workplaces. By doing so, they are not only providing tangible benefits to their employees, but also retaining their talented workforce into the future. Plus with benefits such as greater innovation, improved collaboration, better decision-making through a diverse and inclusive culture, we look forward to seeing how Viva Energy’s parental leave policy plays a critical role in improving gender diversity and creating space for working parents to feel valued and supported.