Revealed: UK companies with the most generous parental leave

Nugget Savings – a company dedicated to helping parents financially prepare for parenthood – has revealed the UK employers that offer the best parental leave packages for soon-to-be parents which include companies such as Knight Frank, Zoopla, and Lloyds Banking Group.

The company analysed over 800 companies’ parental leave packages, submitted by its community of over 200,000 parents-to-be making it the UK’s biggest database of parental leave policies.

To authenticate the data, each user has to submit their LinkedIn profile, so Nugget can verify if they are a current or past employee.

Traditionally, companies’ parental leave policies have been shrouded in secrecy. This lack of transparency has opened prospective parents up to potential discrimination, by having to ask for the maternity policy at the job interview stage. Likewise, current employees can find parental leave policies difficult to locate whilst working at a company, but don’t want to ask management or HR for fear of being passed up for promotion or worse, fired. Nugget has crowdsourced over 800 policies to solve this problem.

The companies were ranked on their parental policy rating – a Nugget Rating of 1 – meaning the employer offers enhanced parental leave which is any policy that offers 6 months or more leave at full pay. They then sorted the results by which companies offer the highest pay and leave. They then filtered results by companies offering enhanced support such as gender-equal policies, IVF funding, egg freezing, and miscarriage support.

Speaking on the list, Katie Guild co-founder of Nugget Savings, commented:

“Nugget Savings was born to help parents to financially plan for parenthood. We want parents who are expecting to have full peace of mind knowing money won’t be a worry. This list was created to champion the companies that are doing just that. We also want to show workers that there are companies that offer amazing benefits for parents – you just have to find them! 

“The very best policies are those that are inclusive. So we wanted to highlight the companies offering great packages for both parents, parents who are struggling to conceive and parents who are going through baby loss.

“What we noticed with this list is that not only are the parental leave packages incredible, but many of the companies are also championing work-life balance and female leadership which is fantastic to see, and invaluable for working mothers.”

Harriet Morton-Liddle, co-founder of Nugget Savings, added:

“The timing of this list is no coincidence. Birth rates are dropping, maternity pay has been called ‘excessive’ and many families are struggling to shoulder the costs that come with being a parent. We want to show parents that there is hope, that there are companies who care about their employees and want to support employees who are or wish to become parents.

“It can feel like there is a never-ending stream of bad news for working parents. We know that people are desperate to hear about the companies that are doing parental leave right. This list demonstrates the positive change afoot in the working world for parents and we hope to grow the list year-on-year.”

1. Baillie Gifford 

Baillie Gifford independent investment manager founded in Edinburgh with offices across the UK. The company employs over 1,000 people.

Why we love it: The company offers 26 weeks at 100% of the employee’s basic salary and then 13 weeks at 50% of their basic salary for those taking maternity and paternity leave. Again, this policy is a day 1 benefit for both mothers and fathers.

2. Knight Frank

Knight Frank is a global real estate company. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank employs more than 16,000 people, operating from 384 offices in 51 territories.

Why we love it: Knight Frank offers 26 weeks of parental leave for both mothers and fathers at 100% full pay, and offers up to 52 weeks of parental leave in total.

3. Zoopla 

Property platform Zoopla employs over 300 people and is headquartered in London.

Why we love it: Zoopla offers a year off for mums with 6 months of full pay, 3 months of half pay and 3 months of no pay for those taking maternity leave. For those taking paternity leave, they offer 8 weeks full pay and 4 weeks half pay.

4. J P Morgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase is a global financial services company that offers a range of services, including investment banking, commercial banking, retail banking, asset management, private banking, and private equity. The company, with headquarters in London, employs over 22,000 people in the UK.

Why we love it: The company offers a maternity package which includes 6 months of full pay, then 3 months of statutory and then the remaining three months unpaid. This benefit is also a day-1 benefit so employees don’t have to work a minimum employment term to qualify. The company also offers £15,000 towards IVF treatment.

5. Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster is a digital platform for tickets for theatre, concerts, sport, family events, clubs and more. The company has offices across the UK and employs over 500 people.

Why we love it: The company encourages gender-equal parenting with a generous shared parental leave package of full pay for 26 weeks. They also offer fertility treatments for employees with at least 1 year of continuous service and the company will contribute up to £19,000 over an employee’s lifetime. The company will contribute 50% of the cost of egg freezing, embryo freezing or sperm freezing, up to £3700.

6. Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group is a leading UK-based financial services group, providing a wide range of banking and financial services, focused primarily on retail and commercial customers. With headquarters in London and Edinburgh, the group employs 66,000 people.

Why we love it: From day one, employees are entitled to 52 weeks’ leave after their child is born or placed for adoption, with six months of that leave fully paid and the remaining 13 weeks as statutory. The company also offers support for employees going through IVF, supported in time off needed for appointments, treatment or associated mental or physical health needs. Changes to hybrid working and compressed hours temporarily as needed for as many rounds as needed.

They also support employees who have had a miscarriage in the first 23 weeks – at least 2 weeks minimum leave supported, up to longer as needed.

7. Flutter

For those of you who might not know, Flutter unites a dozen brands including powerhouses Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Betting & Gaming, and Tombola. The company employs around 5400 employees at its UK branch but also has a US arm.

Why we love it: As well as offering 6 months of fully paid maternity leave with the remaining 3 months as statutory maternity leave, the company welcomes hybrid and fully remote employees, and encourages flexible working.

8. Phoenix Group

The UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, headquartered in London it employs over 6,000 people.

Why we love it: The company offers 26 weeks of full pay which is available for those taking maternity and paternity leave. Employees can also access £15,000 in BUPA fertility treatment to use. They also offer death considerations and full maternity pay if it happens after 24 weeks. If before 24 weeks then a generous sick pay policy applies.

9. Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press, headquartered in Cambridge, employs over 6,000 people.

We why we love it: The company offers its employees 26 weeks of paid leave, 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay, and up to 13 weeks of unpaid leave. The benefit is also a day 1 benefit.

In addition, they offer graduated steps and the potential for part-time opportunities for mothers returning to work from maternity leave.

10. University of Liverpool

Why we love it: The University of Liverpool offers all eligible members of staff a maximum of 52 weeks of Maternity Leave, regardless of length of service. This includes 26 weeks paid at full basic pay, then 13 paid Statutory Maternity Pay (or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower) and the remaining 13 weeks unpaid.

We also love consideration for both partners in their fertility policy and inclusiveness for fostering: they offer fertility treatment for female employees which is five days paid leave per cycle of treatment, limited to one cycle per twelve months and no more than three cycles.

Fertility treatment for male employees whereby if it is an essential requirement within the course of treatment for the partner to attend a specific appointment, the University will also allow up to two days of fertility treatment leave per cycle, limited to one cycle per twelve months and no more than three cycles.

For partners supporting fertility treatment – where partners are not receiving treatment but would like to attend appointments – these will be treated the same as antenatal care allowing the paid attendance at two appointments per cycle, limited to one cycle per twelve months.

For fostering leave – although there is no statutory entitlement to paid time off work for fostering, the University wishes to demonstrate its support for staff members who undertake fostering responsibilities, and accordingly, subject to the conditions set out in the Fostering Leave Policy, staff members are able to take a total of up to five days paid leave (‘Fostering Leave’) per leave year (pro-rated for part-time staff) in connection with fostering responsibilities.