Equip has announced it will continue to pay superannuation guarantee contributions to its employee’s during paid and unpaid parental leave.
The fund said the move was part of their campaign to help address the gender gap in savings and decided to include male employees to encourage more men to take on nurturing responsibilities for young families.
Equip executive officer for people and culture, Sarah Guthleben, said “naturally, it means we’re walking the talk in terms of helping close the gender savings gap created when women take breaks from work”.
“However, our initiative not only recognises that some men are taking on family responsibilities, but that we can also encourage them to do so,” she said.
Equip executive officer for strategic marketing and communications, Geoff Brooks, said it was important that super funds themselves ensured their own employee benefit design demonstrated commitment to moving the dial for female workers if they expect the wider business community to do so.
“If we’re talking to employer sponsors about the issue, then our own practices must reflect the fact that we’re committed to, not only helping employees to building their retirement savings through career breaks, but also to closing the gender pay gap, which is recognised as a primary driver of gap between male and female savings,” Brooks said.
