Arion Bank has announced that it will guarantee employees up to 80% of their wages during parental leave. The bank promises to pay employees with salaries upwards of 600,000 ISK per month (€4,015 / $4,643) – which is the salary cap, before taxes, of the Parental-Leave Benefit Fund – an additional benefit so that they can take home close to 80% of their regular wages.
Encouraged to make full use of their parental leave
In a statement published on the bank’s website on Wednesday, Arion Bank declared that it would henceforth guarantee employees up to 80% of their wages during parental leave. The benefit will be granted in addition to payments from the Parental-Leave Benefit Fund and other compensation negotiated through collective-wage agreements. The statement further encouraged employees to make full use of their right to parental leave.
The salaries of bank employees vary. As reported by Kjarninn, the monthly wages of individuals employed as consultants and brokers, including those working for Arion Bank, exceeded ISK 1.7 million (€11,377 / $13,158) last year. According to the bank’s new parental-compensation package, the average Arion broker would earn approximately ISK 1,360,000 (€9,103 / $10,528) during up to six months of parental leave, or ISK 760,000 (€5,087 / $5,882) more than the expected payment from the Parental-Leave Benefit Fund.
Employees with salaries of ISK 1 million (€6,693 / $7,740) a month receive an additional ISK 200,000 (€1,339 / $1,547) and employees earning ISK 800,000 (€5,355 / $6,192) receive an additional ISK 40,000 (€268 / $310).
Hope to ensure equality of wages in the future
The parental-leave package forms a part of Arion Bank’s endeavour toward gender equality. “The average wages of men, whether in Arion Bank or in society at large, exceed those of women,” the statement from the bank reads – “and fathers are less likely to use their parental leaves than mothers.”
“Guaranteeing employees 80% of their wages during parental leave, regardless of gender or position,” the statement continues, “makes it easier for them to take time off. In this way, this initiative aims to encourage more fathers to make use of their rights. In the future, this step may prove beneficial in ensuring equality of wages between men and women, on the one hand, and increasing the number of women in managerial positions and other positions, on the other hand. Today, women form 44% of the bank’s management.”
The statement ends with a quote from Director Benedikt Gíslason: “We hope to make the bank a more desirable place of employment in the eyes of young and talented people.”
