Volvo Malaysia takes crucial steps to narrow gender gap & create equal career growth opportunity

KUALA LUMPUR: Volvo Cars Malaysia is advocating equal parental leave entitlement via the automakers globally introducing Family Bond policy. It will ensure equal career growth opportunities and would also narrow the gender gap.

Charles Frump, the Managing Director of Volvo Cars Malaysia said, “The Family Bond policy embodies our company’s culture and values. The Malaysian government recently announced an extension to the current parental leave policy, which now allows seven days for working fathers and 98 days for working mothers. This is already a positive step towards the right direction, to build further consideration for equal parental leave entitlement.”

Here are the key highlights of the Volvo Family Bond policy -

• All Volvo Cars Malaysia employees across the automaker’s offices and plants with at least one year of service will receive 24-week parental leave
• The employees on parental leave will be paid 80 percent of their salary by default
• The policy includes mother, father, and even adoptive parents
• The 24-week parental leave can be taken at any time within the first three years of parenthood
• Volvo Cars is currently offering the Family Bond policy to all its 40,000 employees globally (offices & plant)
• Over 160 employees have benefited from the policy to date

Sharing her experience, Veena Menon, CRM Manager at Volvo Cars Malaysia, shared: “As a mother of three children, I cannot express how thankful I am to have 24 weeks of paid parental leave when I had my newborn. I value the importance of early attachment in a child’s development, which is why I am grateful I can utilize the benefits from our Family Bond policy to bond and connect with my newborn during the most crucial period of her life.”

She added, “I must say it is indeed empowering to be part of such a modern and progressive organization. At Volvo, the focus has always been on the people, and through Family Bond, the company has provided both mother and father the opportunity to play an equal role in their child’s upbringing. As we advance as a society, gender equality is of utmost importance and so the conversation of whether one should choose between career or family should never exist. I hope to see more organizations follow in the footsteps of Volvo Cars to offer extended paid parental leave for the betterment of the family unit.”

What do you think of this great initiative by Volvo Cars Malaysia? Let us know in the comments.

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