Ogier has expanded the support it provides for new parents by enhancing the maternity, parental, adoption and surrogacy leave benefits across all of its jurisdictions.
The firm now offers 18 weeks paid and 34 weeks unpaid maternity leave across its offices in BVI, Cayman, Hong Kong, and Singapore, bringing the policies in line with its Channel Islands offices. Permanent employees are entitled to this benefit from their first day with Ogier, as continuous service requirements were removed from the Ogier maternity leave policies in 2021.
Across all jurisdictions, adoption and surrogacy leave have also been increased to 18 weeks paid and 34 weeks unpaid, and parental/paternity leave benefits have increased to 9 weeks paid and up to 43 weeks unpaid.
The changes mean that Ogier now exceeds statutory requirements across all offices for parental leave and provides equal benefits for families who have adopted children or had children by surrogate. This is an important enhancement for LGBTQ+ equality across the firm.
Global managing partner and sponsor of Ogier’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy Edward Mackereth (pictured) said: “We recognise how important time with family is and we want to increase the support we provide for our people to have families and to continue building their careers at Ogier.
“This is another offshore market first for Ogier and a significant step in support of our diversity and inclusion strategy. Longer periods of parental leave are associated with recipients’ more frequent engagement in care responsibilities during the first few years of children’s lives. It can influence parents’ decisions about how to allocate resources to childcare and domestic work in later years, which in turn will help to improve gender balance in the workplace.”
