Deloitte to give returning parents extra payments for 12 months

New parents returning to work at Deloitte will be entitled to additional payments and relaxed KPIs for twelve months following their return, thanks to a number of new HR policy measures at the firm.

Professional services firm Deloitte has taken the opportunity of International Women’s Day to announce a new suite of HR policies aimed at supporting families and new parents returning to the workplace, with special support payments and increased flexibility to be provided.

Deloitte said the new measures were made in response to feedback about the key pressures facing families – time and financial commitments.

“Our goal is to be a truly inclusive organisation and as part of this we have identified the need to better support new parents as they return to work, recognising that this can be a personally, professionally and financially challenging time in someone’s life,” said Deloitte CEO Adam Powick. “These initiatives are an important and visible step in our ongoing commitment to advance gender equity at Deloitte.”

Under the changes, Deloitte will provide parents returning to work following a continuous break for parental leave with an additional support payment for a period of twelve months, structured as a “remuneration premium”. Over the twelve months, new parents working three or four days a week will be paid for one extra day per week, while those working less than three days a week will receive an extra half day’s pay.

Put in place to recognise the complexity and demands of juggling work and parental duties, Deloitte stated that the payment is aimed at encouraging full-time working parents to instead work flexibly and reduce their work hours with no negative consequence to their salary. The firm had already moved last year to scrap fixed office hours, with employees no longer required to be on site for any set amount of time.

In addition to the extra payments, new parents returning from leave will also be given year-long relief from the firm’s standard financial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), to further support their often difficult transition back to work. Meanwhile, parents of school-aged children will be able to work more flexibly during school holidays so that they can spend more time with their families as their children grow up.

Deloitte, which offers 18 weeks of paid parental leave regardless of gender, said its latest round of staff entitlements would also be inclusive of all family types, be they biological, adoptive, surrogate, foster or same-sex. Such inclusivity is one of the standards for ‘Family Friendly Workplace’ certification outlined by Parents At Work and UNICEF Australia, with Deloitte last year among the first to be certified.

Deloitte’s Executive Talent Leader, Pip Dexter, said that previous policy changes had had a clear impact, with men now accounting for half of those taking parental leave at the firm, up from 30 percent in 2018. “Deloitte is proud to take the lead by supporting people through providing more flexibility and choice in how they care for their family. These are important changes that make a positive impact on overall gender equity.”