Paid co-parent leave significantly increased to 40 days with additional days paid caregiver and fertility leave, providing support to employees at different life stages

Hong Kong, (ANTARA/PRNewswire)- AXA has always advocated for a diverse and inclusive corporate culture and is committed to providing a positive and friendly working environment to employees. To better support employees with different needs, AXA has enhanced a series of employee benefits starting from 1 January 2024, including a significant increase of paid co-parent leave from 20 days to 40 days, as well as an additional five days each of caregiver leave, fertility leave, and pregnancy loss leave. Under the new arrangement, employees can reserve more time with their families during every important life stage in order to achieve a better work-life balance and fulfil a range of personal needs.

AXA Group launched the "We Care" program in October 2023 across 51 markets worldwide to support employees through each significant moment in life. The launch of the "We Care" program demonstrates AXA's commitment to caring for its employees' overall well-being and building a healthier, more inclusive, and supportive global workplace culture.

Sally Wan, Chief Executive Officer, AXA Greater China, said, "Our employees are the most valuable assets of AXA and we continue to strive for a more diverse and inclusive corporate culture. By further enhancing a series of employee benefits, we are able to provide better care for our employees' overall well-being and create a more friendly working environment to promote work-life balance, which also helps in attracting and retaining talents. As a market-leading insurer, AXA embraces flexible working arrangements even before the pandemic, allowing employees to work from home once a week. By continuously listening to employees' feedback, we have further increased the number of work-from-home days to two per week during the pandemic and have continued to maintain this arrangement. We sincerely hope that these new enhancements can add to an industry drive to work together on improving employee welfare."

Following the launch of the 'We Care' program, AXA will enhance and introduce multiple employee benefits with effect from 1 January 2024:

Parental Leave

• Paid co-parent leave will be significantly increased from 20 days to 40 days.
• Newly added 5-day fertility leave for employees who receive assisted reproductive services, such as in-vitro fertilization treatment and embryo transfer, means employees can take five days of paid leave; if the employee's partner receives assisted reproductive services, the employee can also have two days of fertility leave to accompany their family.
• Newly added 5-day pregnancy loss leave means employees who are affected by miscarriage can have five days paid leave; if the employee's partner is affected by miscarriage, the employee can also take two days of paid leave to spend time with their family during this difficult time.

Caregiver Leave

• Newly added five days of caregiver leave will be granted to employees taking care of their close family members who require additional care due to a serious health condition or disability.

Domestic and Sexual Violence Leave

• Five days of paid leave will be offered to employees who are impacted by domestic or sexual violence, extra support will be provided to employees based on their various needs during these tough times.

Enhancement of 'Healthy You' Program

• The 'Healthy You' program will be expanded further to provide a supportive working environment for employees experiencing menstrual health conditions, menopause, or andropause, and will also offer various resources to help employees overcome different health problems.

About AXA Hong Kong and Macau
AXA Hong Kong and Macau is a member of the AXA Group, a leading global insurer with presence in 51 markets and serving 93 million customers worldwide. Our purpose is to act for human progress by protecting what matters. 

As one of the most diversified insurers in Hong Kong, we offer integrated solutions across Life, Health and General Insurance. We are the largest General Insurance provider and a major Health and Employee Benefits provider. Our aim is to not only be the insurer to provide comprehensive protection to our customers, but also a holistic partner to the individuals, businesses and community we serve. At the core of our service commitment is continuous product & service innovation and customer experience enrichment, which is achieved through actively listening to our customers' needs and leveraging and investing in technology and digital transformation.

We embrace our responsibility to be a driving force against climate change and a force for good to create shared value for our community. We are proud to be the first to address the importance of mental health through different products and services and thought leading iconic research. Our overall Sustainability Strategy, with emphasis on climate strategy and biodiversity commitment, is developed based on TCFD recommendations. We are committed to integrating environmental, social and governance factors across our business and strive to contribute to a sustainable future through 3 distinct roles - as an investor, insurer and an exemplary company.

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS AVAILABLE ON AXA'S WEBSITE: AXA.COM.HK

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements that are predictions of or indicate future events, trends, plans or objectives. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements because, by their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause AXA's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to Part 4 - "Risk factors and risk management" of AXA's Universal Registration Document for the year ended December 31, 2019, for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA's business, and/or results of operations. AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise, except as part of applicable regulatory or legal obligations.

Source: AXA Hong Kong and Macau