Auckland Airport overhauls parental leave policy

New benefits aim to remove ‘barriers’ for women in employment

BY Dexter Tilo 24 Aug 2023

Auckland Airport is introducing a revamped parental leave policy as the organisation seeks to expand and diversify its workforce to include more women.

"We want to offer people a great place to work that supports their family lives too, including when they transition to parenthood. So, we're thrilled to be providing increased support through our new parental leave policy," said Melanie Dooney, chief corporate services officer at Auckland Airport, in a statement.

The new parental leave policy includes:

Primary carer top-up payments on the government-funded rate to 100% of salary for 18 weeks
Six weeks’ paid leave for partners (Auckland Airport pays the two weeks which are statutorily unpaid, plus an additional four weeks)
Continued employer KiwiSaver contributions of three per cent to primary carers
Four days of Special Paid Leave that can be taken in the four weeks prior to taking Parental Leave
Four days that can be used as leave over the first four weeks back at work as a transition to returning employees
Five days of family leave for primary carers that can be used for any reason connected with their new child

The Auckland Airport also vowed to ensure that the career and salary progression of those taking parental leave will not be affected. It further assured that pregnant staff will be considered for new roles regardless of how close they are to the end of their pregnancy, or how long they plan to take leave for.

Employees on parental leave will also be included in any remuneration review that takes place, according to the organisation.

Diversifying airport workforce

The introduction of the expanded benefit comes as the airport aims to include more women in its workforce, particularly for infrastructure and operations roles.

"We also want to see more women working in operations and infrastructure, and we're hoping our new parental leave policy will help to remove some of the barriers that currently exist," Dooney said.

Currently, only 40% are women in Auckland Airport's operations roles, while only 19% are women in infrastructure. Its executive leadership, on the other hand, are made up of 50% females as of June 30.

Auckland Airport's workforce grew by 24% over the 2023 financial year to 579 people, and it is currently recruiting more staff for operations and infrastructure.

"After the delays created by the pandemic, Auckland Airport is once again underway with a series of important projects that are core to the airport's future resilience, supporting New Zealand's economy, and improving the travel experience for customers," Dooney said.