Maybank today announced that it will offer extended maternity leave of up to 365 days for eligible female employees within the group with immediate effect.
By NST ONLINE – March 8, 2017 @ 7:32pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank today announced that it will offer extended maternity leave of up to 365 days for eligible female employees within the group with immediate effect.
This makes Maybank the first bank in the country to offer such a maternity leave benefit for its employees.
Maybank Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Nora Manaf, who announced this during the Group’s International Women’s Day 2017 celebration in Menara Maybank, said the enhanced benefit was made after a holistic review of the people policies and programmes currently being offered within the group.
The enhanced maternity leave policy allows eligible female employees to extend their maternity leave for up to 365 days in total from the start of their leave, with variable pay.
In addition to the existing 90-day maternity leave with full pay, the new policy allows an employee to apply for an additional maternity leave period of three months with half-pay, and a further six months with no pay.
“The enhancement to the existing 90-days Maternity Leave Policy is yet another feature of our commitment to the bank’s diversity and inclusion agenda and in line with our continuous efforts to humanise people management,” said Nora.
“As a caring and inclusive organisation that always champions family-friendly initiatives and work-life integration, this policy presents an opportunity for our female employees to cope with the demands of their new born child and motherhood, while finding the balance to juggle work and life before returning to, and performing effectively, in their roles in the workplace.”
She added that the extended maternity leave period will not constitute a break in an employee’s employment, and will also see the employee being provided with medical and insurance coverage in accordance with her benefit grade.
Maybank has, over the years, continued to introduce innovative solutions to create an enabling workplace environment to benefit its employees, including female employees.
These include the Flexi Work Arrangement policy, family friendly benefits, Maybank Tiger Child Care Centre, lactation rooms, gymnasium for women, and various other health & wellness programmes.
In 2014, Maybank also introduced the Women Mentor Women (WMW) Council aimed at increasing the representation of women in the middle, senior and top management. The council consists of 13 women from across the group that are able to draw on their professional experience and network to support the council’s initiatives.
In addition to the extended maternity leave policy, Maybank has also rolled out a Sabbatical Leave policy for all its staff. Under the policy, eligible employees are allowed to take a career break for a minimum duration of three months to a maximum of 24 months, with the guarantee and comfort of returning to work.
“During the period of no-pay Sabbatical Leave, employees will continue to enjoy certain benefits such as medical and insurance coverage up to a certain period of time,” said Nora.
At the International Women’s Day Celebration, Maybank organised a forum titled ‘Be Bold for Change’ with special panelists including Maybank Board Member, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin; Nora Manaf; Andrew Chan, Sustainability and Climate Change Leader of PriceWaterhouseCoopers; Nawal Jes, Founder of Nawal Jes Shoes and Zeffri Yusof, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Google Malaysia.
The aim of the discussion was to raise awareness on gender parity as well as to empower women employees especially, to take charge of their lives to achieve greater success – in both the personal and professional spheres.
