Employee Benefits | Tobacco giant BAT introduces parental leave reform

Starting in January 2019, British American Tobacco (BAT) – the world’s most widely distributed tobacco company – will introduce an industry-leading parental leave initiative.

The new policy provides a minimum of 16 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave for new mothers and adoptive parents. It also includes a return to work guarantee, flexible working opportunities and an online advice service offering coaching support for all parents whenever they need it.

We spoke with BAT to discuss the reasons behind the new initiative and the impact they expect it to across their global workforce.

What is the motivation behind this new policy and how does it feed into the wider business strategy at BAT?