Comprehensive parental leave that goes beyond basic statutory requirements can be too unpredictable and expensive for SMEs, but a new type of insurance has launched to change that.
Developed by Innovative Risk Labs, in partnership with insurer Apollo, the product is called JustParent and it aims to help SMEs give staff enhanced paid parental leave benefit, but without the financial stress of potentially spiralling costs.
SMEs can be deterred from offering more than statutory because they can’t predict how many staff members might add to their families or when. Parental leave for one or two members of staff in a year might be manageable, but five or six could present a financial challenge.
This insurance is designed to help employers manage that unpredictability. Under the policy, an employer can claim 100 percent of the basic salary of staff on parental leave, above an agreed excess. As the product developers explained on their website: “That means you can budget for it, plan ahead, and have an incredible tool in your recruitment armoury.”
Hayley Budd, Apollo’s Innovation Class leader, said: “JustParent embodies the essence of groundbreaking insurance solutions and is a perfect fit for our Innovation Consortium at Lloyd’s of London. Enabling our clients’ business to flourish is at the core of our strategy and we are proud to do this by setting a new standard in employee benefits. Never has a product of this kind been so important.”
Ed Gaze, CEO of Innovative Risk Labs, said: “This is no ordinary insurance product launch. JustParent is about levelling the recruitment and talent retention playing field for SMEs – and this at a time of historic labour scarcity in the UK market. It’s about transforming family lives for the better and enhancing inclusion at work across the country. It’s about enabling diversity to flourish in sectors traditionally hamstrung by risks around parental leave. A lot of work has gone into this product and we can’t wait to take it to customers across the UK.”
