National Australia Bank (NAB) has joined rivals Westpac and StGeorge Bank in paying employees superannuation on unpaid parental leave.
The new entitlement for parents will be paid at NAB’s normal employer superannuation contribution rate of 10 percent and will be available to eligible NAB Group Australian employees who commence parental leave on or after October 1 this year.
Under the new arrangements NAB employees will now receive up to 40 weeks of superannuation contributions on unpaid parental leave, in addition to the 12 weeks of paid leave and superannuation already provided to parents by the bank, this brings NAB approximately on par with Westpac who offer 39 weeks superannuation on unpaid leave and 13 weeks of paid parental leave.
Last week, Westpac Banking Corporation announced the introduction of similar benefits for its employees. NAB Chief Executive Cameron Clyne said that extending superannuation payments to parents on unpaid parental leave was a good idea that would benefit working parents and working women in particular.
“When we heard last week that one of our competitors had decided to extend superannuation payments to employees on unpaid parental leave, we thought that is a good idea.
“Competition between the banks is a good thing, but it shouldn’t get in the way of a good idea like this. We investigated whether the initiative could work at NAB, found that it could, and decided to implement it as soon as practicable.
“We hope this change will be a practical and meaningful benefit to working parents at NAB and particularly to the many working women who may take unpaid leave at various times during their careers to have children.”
The new superannuation payments for parents announced today is expected to benefit in excess of 650 NAB employees each year.
