Easing the financial strain on the new mums and dads among its workforce is the aim of a new range of parental perks from Flight Centre Travel Group.
The introduction of the paid parental leave program will see Flight Centre offer an additional six weeks’ pay to all new mums or dads – whoever is the primary caregiver – on top of the Federal Government’s 18-week Paid Parental leave scheme.
It follows Flight Centre’s recent nationwide deal with childcare group Goodstart Early Learning to help new parents return to the workforce. Under the deal, employees can access reduced rates at the group’s 641 centres throughout Australia with discounts varying from 5% to 15%.
The offerings have been introduced to create a “more flexible working environment”, according to general manager of FLT’s Peopleworks (HR) division Carole Cooper.
“Given that we have a young workforce, we rely heavily on parents and they play a crucial role in our business,” she said.
“We feel it’s important that we offer mums and dads the support they need as they start families and raise their children and we are working to create an environment that eases some of the pressure that parents typically experience.”
In addition, Flight Centre is also creating support networks for parents while they take time out. The Keep In Touch programs are now available in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne with plans to expand to other cities.
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“This is in addition to other new initiatives that we are introducing or formalising, including work from home, job-share, compressed weeks and flexible rosters,” Cooper said.
Flight Centre Travel Group’s specialist youth brand, Student Flights, introduced an unlimited annual leave program for its travel agents in Australia last year.
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