Telecommunications organisation Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) has introduced a grandparental leave policy.
The scheme, which came into effect on 1 April 2017, allows Hong Kong-based employees to take three days of leave when welcoming a new grandchild. To take advantage of the policy, staff are required to submit a family photograph of the three generations of their family, including the new grandchild.
The grandparental leave policy is designed to give employees the opportunity to celebrate the new arrival and spend time with their families.
The new scheme runs alongside other paid leave policies available to eligible employees, including one day of family care leave, one day off for a year’s service, and five half-days’ leave for festive occasions, as well as encouraging employees to take a paid afternoon off on Fridays up to 12 times a year. Staff can also take up to five days’ of paid marriage leave, 16 weeks of maternity leave at full pay, 14 days’ paternity leave at full pay, two days of volunteering leave, and an unpaid sabbatical of up to one year to pursue a personal goal.
CY Chan, associate director, talent management and organisation development, and co-owner at HKBN, said, “At HKBN, our ethos is that life takes priority over work, which is why we uphold life-work priority rather than work-life balance.
“We believe when our [employees] are empowered with higher flexibility to pursue purposeful personal and family lives, they come to work far more motivated, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity. Our aim is for more [organisations] to adopt similar measures to care for their [employees], and join HKBN to make Hong Kong a better place to live.”