MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Vero, an award-winning Southeast-Asia-focused PR and digital marketing consultancy, announced updated parental leave policies.
The Vero team includes 200 PR, creative, digital, and influencer marketing professionals. Sixty-six percent of the Vero team members are aged 26 and above, and 68 percent identify as female. Given the rapid expansion of Vero’s business, the parental experience for team members across Southeast Asia has come into greater focus.
While compensated maternity leave in Vietnam is offered for 6 months by legal standards, other countries where Vero is based – namely Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand – have shorter maternity leave.
In a unifying move, Vero announces the standardization of 6 months of paid maternity leave, effectively offering to cover the duration and amount of salary not supported by local social security systems. This policy is offered to all Vero team members with 1 year of service.
“In our cultural approach which encourages a regional convergence of best practices, it seemed imperative to provide equal treatment to our team members. To be at their best professionally, our aspiring parents should be provided with the same standards of supporting policies. It was only natural that we settled for the highest standards, as we believe a reliable family life is imperative to nurture a strong professional life,” said Raphael Lachkar, COO, ASEAN at Vero.
In the Philippines, Vero believes the extension of maternity leave from 3 months to 6 months and paternity leave from 7 days to 1 month will give local team members ample time to regain their strength, physically and mentally.
“Improving and unifying the maternity and paternity leaves across the region is more than just a benefit. It enables parents to fulfill their responsibilities at home without being anxious about their job. This is the kind of attention and protection that not only Vero members but also every Filipino worker should have. We hope this inspires other companies here in the Philippines to genuinely support the primary social unit of our society,” said Nicole Briones, operations director of Vero Philippines.
Besides expanding the duration of paid coverage, Vero will also focus on customizing the path of return-to-work, allowing parents to reappropriate their professional rhythm as they see most fit.
“We have noticed that many parents considering parental leave are anxious about their status upon return, or their absence sets off a desire to stay in touch with their work – out of passion,” added Supreeyaporn Sihawong, People & Culture Manager of Vero’s Bangkok office.
For that reason, flexibility and control rendered to the employee are at the heart of a seamless experience both for the leaving parent and their peers.
While women are usually identified as the main caregiver and thus are targeted with the bulk of family-oriented policies, Vero aligns with expanded definitions of family dynamics, where men are embracing their roles as a caregiver. To make the workplace more adapted to balanced ambitions among men and women, Vero has also upgraded parental leave coverage for new fathers, unifying the regional policy at 1 month.
“As one half of an ambitious and active couple myself, I realized how important it was to shape policies in a way that does not favor only one career ahead of the other. By leveraging paternity leave, we acknowledge that our workplace allows our new parents to flourish both privately and professionally, regardless of their gender,” concluded Vu-Quan Nguyen-Masse, VP of Culture & Brand, ASEAN at Vero.
