AXA Hong Kong and Macau doubles paid co-parent leave

AXA Hong Kong and Macau has doubled its paid co-parent leave as part of the insurer's expanded benefit offerings that aim to promote the welfare of its employees.

In an announcement, the insurer said its paid co-parent leave has been increased from 20 to 40 days since January 1.

It has also added five days of fertility leave for employees who will receive assisted reproductive services, while two days of fertility leave are made available for employees whose partners will receive assisted reproductive services.

A five-day pregnancy loss leave has also been introduced for employees who are affected by miscarriage.

"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," AXA said in its announcement.

The company has also rolled out five days of caregiver leave to employees who need to take care of close family members who require additional care due to health conditions or disability.

Five days of paid leave will also be extended to employees who are affected by domestic or sexual violence, according to AXA.

"Extra support will be provided to employees based on their various needs during these tough times," the insurer said.

Menopause support

Meanwhile, AXA is also expanding its "Healthy You" programme to support employees experiencing menstrual health conditions, menopause, or andropause.

The expanded programme will also offer various resources to help employees overcome different health problems.

The "Healthy You" programme was introduced by the insurer in 2020 to provide employees with psychological assistance, teleconsultation services, medical check-ups, as well as minimum financial coverage in the case of cancer and more.

AXA said that more than 34,000 in-person medical check-ups have been offered to its employees over the age of 40 worldwide since 2022.

Taking care of employees

Sally Wan, chief executive officer of AXA Greater China, said they are working to be more diverse and inclusive as she underscores that employees are their "most valuable assets."

"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," Wan said in a statement.

AXA is also among the employers that have introduced flexible working arrangements even before the pandemic, allowing staff to work from home once a week. This has been hiked to two days following feedback from staff during the pandemic.

"We sincerely hope that these new enhancements can add to an industry drive to work together on improving employee welfare," the CEO said.

We Care programme

The enhanced paid leave benefits and the expansion of the "Healthy You" initiative follows the launch of the insurer's "We Care" programme globally.

In an announcement last year, AXA said the initiative aims to support its 110,000 employees worldwide at different life stages.

"Through 'We Care,' AXA acknowledges that employees may have complex and varying lives and aims to provide a platform that empowers our employees to care for themselves and their loved ones, no matter where they are based in the world," said Karima Silvent, group chief human resources officer, in a statement.