DRINKS GIANT DIAGEO has announced that it will begin offering 26 weeks of fully paid paternity leave to all male employees. 

The scheme will be offered to all Diageo employees in Ireland, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or how people become parents. 

Diageo is introducing the paid paternity scheme from 1 July. 

“We are committed to creating a fully inclusive and diverse workforce and we strongly believe that businesses play a significant role in shaping the future of society,” Diageo’s chief HR officer Mairéad Nayager said.

“Global businesses like Diageo must make bold moves on policies and the environments in which their employees work to ensure that the progress people deserve happens.”

Diageo is also rolling out a global policy which offers female employees in all markets a minimum of 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. 

Parental leave scheme

In April, Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty announced details of the State’s Parental Leave scheme.

The new welfare payment is to benefit up to 60,000 new parents who are employed or self-employed is set to come into effect from November.

Under the scheme, new parents will each receive two weeks’ paid leave at a rate of €245 per week in addition to existing entitlements such as Maternity and Paternity Leave.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will pay the benefit, and individual employers can decide if they will provide a ‘top-up’ payment to the salary level of employees.

The benefit is non-transferable, a move designed to encourage more new fathers to stay at home with their children during the first twelve months after they are born

Includes reporting by Stephen McDermott