Asda has improved its existing family-friendly policies, offering additional support for all 140,000 colleagues during significant life moments such as parenthood, caregiving and personal loss.
The new benefits are a “significant enhancement” to the retailer’s previous offer, doubling paternity leave and extending existing pregnancy loss support beyond the normal statutory leave and pay.
It is also introducing a new carers package, as well as further enhancing maternity and adoption leave.
The new policies, which offer ”enhanced support, flexibility, and compassion”, will be made immediately available to all Asda staff. They come alongside the retailer’s £80m investment into increasing hourly pay for store-based colleagues earlier this year.
Enhanced maternity and adoption leave pay has been significantly increased, rising from 12 to 26 weeks. Paternity leave at full contractual pay has doubled (from two weeks to four). This will also be extended to secondary kinship carers.
In a first for Asda, primary kinship carers (those who take on long-term care for a child who can no longer live with their parents) will also be entitled to 26 weeks’ company leave and pay.
The grocer’s existing pregnancy loss policy has also been enhanced to provide two weeks’ company paid leave for those who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
“We’re proud to be introducing new and enhanced family-friendly policies, which underline our commitment to fostering an inclusive and colleague-focused workplace,” said Helen Selby, Asda’s general counsel and interim chief people officer.
”We want our colleagues to feel supported during some of the most important – and occasionally most challenging – moments in their lives. These changes further build on the progress we’ve made over the last year in supporting the beating heart of our business – our fantastic colleagues.”
The latest family-friendly policy updates boost Asda’s existing policies, incuding a neonatal care leave policy that launched in November 2024, providing colleagues with up to 12 weeks of additional paid leave if their baby needs neonatal care treatment after birth.
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