Global law firm DLA Piper has extended its paid maternity and paternity leave policies for its 200 Hong Kong-based employees, and launched a maternity coaching programme for new and expectant parents.
Adoptive and birth parents can take up to 18 weeks of maternity leave and up to 10 days of paternity leave, both at full pay, under the enhanced policy. All of its fee-earning employees, such as partners, lawyers, consultants and legal executives, as well as support staff, are eligible for the parental leave arrangements.
The new maternity coaching programme provides employees with support before, during, and after parental leave. The scheme aims to ensure that staff have a successful transition when returning to work.
Kevin Chan, office managing partner for Hong Kong at DLA Piper, said: “We made the decision to overhaul our parental leave policy after collecting a significant amount of feedback from our [employees] and the market. The new policy underscores our commitment to strengthening our service by retaining and attracting top talent at all levels because we understand our people are our greatest asset; we value their wellbeing as much as we value the support of our clients.”
Juan Picon, global co-chairman at DLA Piper, added: “At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion is one of the key pillars of our culture. We know that balancing a career with a family is really important for many of our employees. Making improvements to our provisions for new parents is a vital tool to support our people through this period in their lives.”