Standard Chartered Singapore offers mothers 20 weeks paid maternity leave

SINGAPORE — All female employees at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore will be getting 20 weeks of paid maternity leave effective from April 1 this year, the bank announced on Monday (March 27).

The policy, which is part of a larger rollout of enhanced employee benefits, will also include mothers who adopt and is extended to all employees of the bank regardless of their length of service, the bank said.

The move is to recognise that women are “key contributors to the bank’s business”, said its head of human resources Charlotte Thng, citing the fact that 45 per cent of the bank’s management team in Singapore are female, and women comprise almost half of its workforce in the Republic.

“We recognise the dual roles many of them have to play, and want them to succeed both at work and at home. We believe that fostering and building on a culture to help our people balance their personal and professional commitments will deliver strong benefits for both the bank and employees,” she added.

Male employees will continue to get two calendar weeks of paternity leave.

The bank added that all employers, regardless of gender, will stand to benefit from “ramped-up” flexible working practices, including the option to work part time, choose flexible working hours, or work from home on selected days – subject to the nature of their roles and managers’ approval. This is part of its key priority in developing “a strong Singapore core”, Ms Thng said.

Singapore’s Manpower Ministry currently mandates that mothers should get at least 16 weeks paid maternity leave from their employers. Eligible adoptive mothers are entitled to four weeks of Government-funded adoption leave.