Coles expands parental leave program

Coles is expanding the support available for current and new team members across its network who are preparing for parenthood or adjusting to being a new parent.

The supermarket giant has removed the 12-month service eligibility period for team members to apply for parental leave, meaning primary and secondary carers can now access paid parental leave benefits without having to wait.

Coles has also increased the paid parental leave for secondary carers from two weeks to four weeks, with access to the leave able to be taken up to 24 months after the birth, adoption, or surrogacy birth of a child. Coles will also offer flexibility of how the leave is taken, such as single days, multiple days, or blocks of days.

Kris Webb, Chief of People and Culture at Coles, said they want to make Coles a great place to work for all team members, which means supporting them through significant life moments such as planning to welcome a new addition to their family.

“For people who are having a child and wanting to work for Coles, we don’t want them to feel they need to wait to receive primary carers leave, because we know that this is not always possible. No one should feel they need to hold off having a family because of their job.

“We also are pleased to be extending our secondary carers leave because we know how important it is for primary carers to have the support of their partners during these important times of their lives.  This policy applies to team members who work in our stores, our distribution centres and our store support centre, so it’s really expansive and we hope will make a big difference to our team members planning to grow their families.”

Coles is also formalising its policy for having paid parental leave extended to primary carers who suffer a pregnancy loss (stillbirth) through birth, adoption, or surrogacy.