Aviva offers ’first day of school’ leave for working parents

With a new school year approaching, Aviva is hoping to make ‘first days’ less daunting for parents when their children join a new school.

Aviva UK employees will be able to take a half-day of leave when their child starts at a new school - in addition to their holiday entitlement - to allow them to take their child to school or to pick them up. The leave is available to parents of children attending a new primary or secondary school for the first time.

In 2017, 427 parents took up the “first day of school” initiative so they could support their children. This is just one of the flexible working policies Aviva has introduced to allow its employees to work comfortably with a healthy work-life balance.

In November last year Aviva introduced a groundbreaking equal parental leave policy which offers 26 weeks of paid leave to UK mums and dads when a new child arrives. The company also introduced a scheme in October 2017 to give greater benefits to employees with caring responsibilities.

Karl Hayward, who works at Aviva’s Horizon Business Centre in Norwich has been pleased by the initiative: “My wife and I will be looking to use the leave this year for our son who starts his new school in September. We used it last year to settle in our little girl when she started reception. We both work for Aviva, so one of us was able to drop her off and the other could collect. It was really nice to be able to do this both for her sake and ours.” 

“Whether a child starting at primary school, or making the jump up to secondary education, we know this can be a nerve-wracking day for both children and their parents. We want to allow families to experience that all-important first day in a stress-free way and this is a small thing we can do for parents, which can make a big difference to them.” -Caroline Prendergast, Aviva’s Chief People Officer

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• Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers.
• In the UK we are the leading insurer serving one in every four households and have strong businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE100 index.  
• Aviva’s asset management business, Aviva Investors, provides asset management services to both Aviva and external clients, and currently manages over £350 billion in assets. Total group assets under management at the Aviva group are £490 billion.
• Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out £34.6 billion in benefits and claims in 2017.
• By serving our customers well, we are building a business which is strong and sustainable, which our people are proud to work for, and which makes a positive contribution to society.