News
Paving the way… PEEK’s new policies for Paternity Leave and Parental Bereavement Leave
Compassionate. Dignity. Excellence. Integrity. Respect.
These are PEEK’s five values we hold and cherish closely. However, words without actions mean nothing.
Over the last two years, I have been on a personal and professional mission to ensure PEEK not only looks after the children, young people and families we were set-up to serve but is the best employer we can be for TEAMPEEK.
TEAMPEEK mean a great deal to me. Without each and every single team member we wouldn’t achieve our vision and mission of improving lives of children, young people and families impacted by poverty.
The COVID19 pandemic has allowed PEEK to further reflect on what we are good at, what we need to let go of and what we need to change and I am proud to share some of the changes we have made to make PEEK the best employer we can be.
It is a devastating fact that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Many families are forced to suffer in silence and receive no financial support from the Government to take time to grieve, rest and recover.
I am proud to share that PEEK has now incorporated paid miscarriage leave for all employees. All employee’s regardless of gender are entitled to take up to 2 weeks full pay to recover from the loss of a pregnancy through miscarriage.
PEEK know the early years of a child’s life are incredibly important to their development and for bonding with family to give each child the best start in life. However, many parents often miss out on those stages as financially they cannot afford to take time off work.
PEEK has proudly increased our paternity leave from SSP to 3 weeks full pay. In addition, PEEK has increased paid leave for employees who go through Maternity, Shared Parental and Adoption to 19 weeks full pay.
PEEK has also increased our Parental Bereavement Leave to up to 4 weeks full pay because no parent or carer should have to worry about returning to work so quickly after losing a child.
PEEK back the calls from Angela Crawley SNP MP on their Statutory Miscarriage Bill and Patricia Gibson SNP MP on their Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill. Both bills are so important and can support many families across Scotland and the UK.
My greatest thanks go to the PEEK board of trustees for without them, our forward-thinking, progressive and sector-leading policies wouldn’t happen.
2022 is the year of BuildBackBetter. Let’s do it together.
Michaela.
