Rio Tinto offers 18-week paid parental leave to staff

Women should not be the only ones taking an active role when it comes to parenting, men should too. This is the reasoning behind the latest leave policy announced by Rio Tinto, which seeks to provide an 18-week paid parental leave to employees, disregarding the part of whether they are the primary or secondary caregiver.

"Any employee welcoming a child to their family by birth or adoption will be eligible for 18 weeks of paid parental leave," said Rio Tinto chief executive Kellie Parker. "And, where both parents work for Rio Tinto, both employees will be eligible for paid parental leave – at the same time, over-lapping or consecutively.”

According to Parker, the introduction of the leave policy is part of the company's efforts to create a culture where "women and men are treated equally as parents and men are encouraged to be active fathers," given that women are more frequently to take the primary caregiving role when it comes to parenting.

"Our new parental leave policy recognises that raising a child is not a gendered role. We want and encourage new dads from every part of our business to take parental leave, so they can play an active role in their family," she said.

"I know change takes time, and it will also take action. Now that this opportunity exists, we need to encourage dads across the business to take it. To all the dads across Rio, know you have my support," she later added.

Read more: Inside Rio Tinto's successful L&D program

In addition to the 18-week paid parental leave, the chief executive also said that it will "contribute 100% to an employee's pension fund while they are on parental leave, both paid and unpaid."

She explained this will ensure that their employees are prepared for retirement, as being a parent can impact plans on the subject.

"We also recognise that taking time away to parent full time can impact retirement plans, and gender pension gaps do exist. We want to ensure that all employees are equally ready for retirement," she said.

Rio Tinto is a multinational mining company with a workforce that is "almost 80% male," according to Parker, which is why the firm is giving importance to both parents equally.

"We want to create an equal, inclusive and forward-thinking workplace," she said.