o 16-weeks of paid leave o Reduced working hours (30 hours/week for 6 months) for child care post return
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Mumbai, March 10, 2015: On the occasion of the International Women’s Week, Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, today announced a new maternity policy.
Vodafone India Maternity Policy
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The highlight of the initiatives was the announcement of the new maternity policy that offers 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, 1 working week of paternity leave and 6 hours per day for 6 months post return from maternity for child care
The extended maternity leave and only 30 hour work week for 6 months will help returning mothers transition comfortably into the workplace and also attend to her child’s nursing needs. The introduction of paternity leave will enable the new father bond with the baby and be around with the family during this precious family time.
Gender Diversity Journey of Vodafone India
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With this announcement, Vodafone has become one of the first few organisations in the world to introduce a mandatory uniform minimum global maternity policy
Other than the United Nations, very few global organisations – and even fewer multinational corporations – have adopted minimum maternity policies of this kind. While a number of Vodafone subsidiaries already offer substantial maternity care terms which will continue as before, the new mandatory minimum global maternity policy will make a significant difference to the lives of thousands of Vodafone women employees in countries where there is little or no legislative requirement to provide maternity support.
Vodafone also announced the outcome of global analysis commissioned from KPMG* which indicates that global businesses could potentially save up to an estimated $19 billion annually through the provision of 16-weeks of fully paid maternity leave. KPMG estimated that:
- Recruiting and training new employees to replace women who do not stay in the workforce after having a baby costs global businesses $47 billion every year;
- Offering women 16-weeks of fully paid maternity leave rather than the statutory minimum would cost businesses an additional $28 billion a year; and
- If businesses were able to retain more women in the workforce after their maternity leave, they could save up to $19 billion a year and would retain the knowledge and experience of these women with positive consequences for productivity and effectiveness.
Additionally, KPMG estimated that:
- Offering mothers a global return-to-work policy equivalent to a four-day week at full pay for their first six months back to work after maternity leave could save working mothers a cumulative $14 billion in childcare for their new babies; and
- A four-day week would enable mothers to spend a cumulative 608 million additional days with their newborn babies.
Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao, said “Too many talented women leave working life because they face a difficult choice between either caring for a newborn baby or maintaining their careers. Our new mandatory minimum global maternity policy will support over 1,000 Vodafone women employees every year in countries with little or no statutory maternity care.
“Women account for 35% of our employees worldwide but only 21% of our international senior leadership team. We believe our new maternity policy will play an important role in helping to bridge that gap. Supporting working mothers at all levels of our organisation will ultimately result in better decisions, a better culture and a deeper understanding of our customers’ needs.”
Maternomics’, a short film which demonstrates the business sense for companies to offer attractive maternity benefits and can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/FpxYpymkyt8
*The estimated costs and savings are based on females with at least intermediate-level education, employed in non-agriculture sectors, going on paid maternity leave for 16-weeks rather than statutory paid maternity leave. The analysis is based on publicly available labour market and family statistics from a range of sources, including from the International Labour Organisation, Euromonitor and OECD family database, and on internal Vodafone workforce data where wider market statistics were unavailable.
The analysis in this document was produced with assistance from KPMG LLP (“KPMG”).
KPMG’s work for Vodafone was designed to meet Vodafone’s specific requirements and pursuant to terms agreed between the two parties. Any reader of this document who uses or relies on anything attributed to KPMG or derived from KPMG’s work for Vodafone will do so at their own risk. KPMG’s duties are owed to Vodafone alone. Any policy recommendations expressed in this document are those of Vodafone.
About Vodafone India:
Vodafone India is a 100% fully owned subsidiary of the Vodafone Group Plc. with operations across the country serving around 180 million customers. Commencing operations in 2007, Vodafone in its long-term commitment to India, has built a robust business in a highly competitive and price sensitive market. Vodafone India has been providing innovative, customer friendly and reliable products and services by continuously differentiating itself with a strong brand, best quality network, unique distribution and great customer service. This has been acknowledged at several prestigious forums where Vodafone India has won awards and recognition across different segments consistently.
Serving the needs of businesses, Vodafone Business Services provides total telecommunications (Voice and Data) solutions across mobility and wireline platforms. With the advantage of global expertise and experience and the knowledge of local markets, the business is run through the following verticals – Vodafone Global Enterprise (VGE), National Corporate (NC), Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and a dedicated vertical for Government customers. Vodafone Business Services has steadily taken leadership position and is currently providing both mobile and wireline services to global and national businesses equipped with a robust and superior network infrastructure and a 24×7 NOC.
M-Pesa is a unique and innovative money transfer service from Vodafone. Serving the needs of the unbanked and under-banked customers, Vodafone M-Pesa is a safe, fast and convenient way of bringing bank to the mobile. With a pan India distribution network of 85,000 agents and with more than 2.5mn customers, M-Pesa is the largest banking business correspondent in the country. M-Pesa today plays a vital role in enabling financial inclusion and m-commerce.
As a value based organization, Vodafone is committed to achieving the highest standards of Health, Safety and Well-being not only for its employees but also for all its partners. At Vodafone, sustainability is an integral part of the company’s mission and strategy, shaping the conduct of business every day. ‘Vodafone Cares’ is a platform to showcase all the good that Vodafone does for the society and has championed several projects and initiatives under the three pillars of Education, Environment and Empowerment. The Vodafone Foundation in India is committed to leverage the potential of mobile technology to address some of India’s most pressing challenges relating to education, health, equality and access. Its activities focus on the 4Ms of empowering individuals – m Health, m Education, m Agriculture and m Women.
Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies with over 444 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as of 31st December 2014. Vodafone has equity interests in telecommunications operations in nearly 30 countries and around 50 partner networks worldwide.
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