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A top 10 of workplaces offering enhanced paternity leave

Website names firms it claims are most generous when it comes to mums and dads

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With more and more firms boosting their policies on paternity pay and leave a list has been drawn up of the best places for dads to work.

Money advice website Money Guru researched what big firms offer and put together a top 10.

American Express came out on top with their offer of 20 weeks paid leave. Tech firm Lenovo came second. Other notable names on the list include Spotify, Twitter, Netflix and Etsy – who offer unlimited sick leave to look after unwell children.

The statutory allowance is two weeks of paternity leave paid at a minimum of around £145 per week plus the option for the mother to transfer some of her 52 weeks allowance via Shared Parental Leave.

The researchers also looked at the best firms when it comes to Shared Parental Leave with American Express again coming out on top followed by Barclays Bank, the Crown Prosecution Service, Deloitte and the Independent Living Fund Scotland according to their criteria.

For maternity policies Accenture were named the best place for mums and mums-to-be.

Equal leave

A number of big companies have equalised their leave policies this year including o2, drinks giant Diageo and the Telegraph group. Mums and dads can now take months of leave at these firms paid at their normal rate or something very close to it.

Firms are reacting to a desire among dads to spend more time with their children however take-up of policies like Shared Parental Leave remains low.

Registered Psychologist Rachel Hard tsaid, “There are a number of reasons why men might not be taking parental leave; these include accessibility and equality of paternity leave opportunities as well as cultural norms and social expectations. In some cases there are still differences in terminology amongst businesses, or the way that people use language to describe the period of time taken off work after having a new baby, i.e. maternity leave versus parental leave.

“The title ‘maternity leave’ gives a gendered role or expectation of who can/should take leave to care for a new baby. The traditional male and female roles are often still in play despite social sanctions to establish equality.”