Saga announces grandparent leave policy

Saga has announced a new grandparent leave policy, allowing staff a week of paid time off from work to celebrate the birth of grandchildren.

Saga says that its policy is a first-of-its-kind move for a major UK business. Employees’ grandchildren will also have access to Saga’s onsite Apples nursery.

Saga says the leave policy recognises the role of grandparents to their families and society. It was launched following staff consultation and research involving 2,500 people over 50. That research showed that a quarter of working grandparents said they found it “difficult” to balance work with childcare commitments.

Academic research also found that grandparent involvement is strongly associated with child wellbeing and that grandparents may be under-recognised in the policy agenda. Age UK says two out of five (40%) grandparents over 50 provide regular childcare for their grandchildren while the rising retirement age means more grandparents will be in work for longer.

Jane Storm, Chief People Officer at Saga said: “This is about helping new grandparents celebrate a special moment and play a role in their growing families from day one. And it’s also a symbol of how important older workers are to their companies and to society. Working life is getting longer, but the first question many people over 50 still hear is ‘when are you going to retire?’. We want to change that mindset and show that age is no barrier to continued professional success.

“As a purpose-led business we have a responsibility to build a representative, multigeneration workforce fit for the future, that serves the needs of our customers. Our customers are mostly over 50 and we want to have more colleagues here that reflect the community we serve. We also think this idea should be a key attraction for retention and recruitment.”

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