Phone giant Vodafone has announced that it is introducing a worldwide maternity policy. The new policy will offer better than statutory maternity pay in many of the countries it operates in, which include Asia, the Middle East, Africa, US and Europe.
It will kick in by the end of this year and include a minimum of 16 weeks full pay and 30-hour working week for new mothers returning to work on full pay for the first six months. The incentive is to employ and retain women in the company.
The group’s organisation and people development director, Sharon Doherty commented "There are a lot of hidden costs when you lose women to maternity: retraining, recruiting, business disruption…You have to look at the total picture, not just obvious upfront costs."
Vodafone said that around 1,000 women will be impacted by the new policy.
