In March 2021, Fidelity International launched a company-wide Family Care Leave Policy meaning that all employees across the globe will have access to at least five paid days leave per calendar year to look after family members in need of care.

Fidelity Family Care Leave, has been in the planning for a while but the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic have highlighted even further the caring pressures we can all sometimes face and the importance of offering the flexibility to offer this additional support for our Fidelity people.

The policy was the latest benefit being offered to support Fidelity International employees to balance their work and family responsibilities. It allowed employees to take time off for a variety of reasons including, caring for elderly parents, looking after a sick or disabled family member or to manage unexpected events such as nursery closures.

This is another move forward in Fidelity International’s commitment to being a modern, progressive and compassionate family-friendly company and came eight months after the announcement of Fidelity’s global Enhanced Paternity Leave enable all staff to take the same amount of paid as mothers and primary carers. The wellbeing of our employees is incredibly important to us and we continue to look for ways to ensure our employees feel supported to balance work and family responsibilities, allowing our people to be happy and effective at work.

Initial data showed that men were taking the benefit more than women (albeit slightly).