Irish supermarket becomes first to announce ‘significant enhancements’ to family leave policies with pay double for dads

AN Irish supermarket has become the first to announce “significant enhancements” to family leave policies.

Marks & Spencer Ireland said they are aiming to provide better support to colleagues during key moments in life.

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The new changes include an extension of maternity and adoption leave to 26 weeks at full pay to ensure parents have enough time to bond with their new child.

Paternity leave has also seen a major upgrade, with M&S doubling it to four weeks.

And the retail giant is also offering fathers full pay during this period.

A standout enhancement is the company’s new Neonatal Leave Policy, which offers up to 12 weeks of fully paid leave for employees whose babies need specialised neonatal care.

M&S has also introduced a Child Loss Policy for its employees.

This aims to provide additional support to those who have experienced the loss of a pregnancy or a child.

On the enhancements, Head of People for M&S in Ireland and Northern Ireland Liz Moran said: “We are delighted to announce these significant improvements to our family leave policies to support colleagues through life’s big moments.”

And M&S said these changes are part of the company’s broader effort to offer more flexibility and support to its employees.

It also follows the introduction of its “Worklife” initiative last year, which gives Retail Managers more flexible working options.

Along with family leave, M&S provides a wide range of other benefits to its employees.

This includes a 20 per cent colleague discount, an attractive pension scheme, free 24/7 virtual GP services and a Holiday Buy Scheme.

This comes after it was revealed that Applegreen, one of Ireland’s largest roadside hospitality brands, will open new M&S Food stores this year.

Each of the 20 new “shop-in-shop” locations will undergo a bespoke upgrade to introduce the M&S brand in a multi-million-euro investment.

The expansion will mean that by year-end, Applegreen will be operating 41 M&S Food stores across the island of Ireland.

And there are plans to further expand the network to 60 outlets in the medium term.

Each new outlet will feature a range of more than 400 high quality M&S Food products, which will complement the existing Applegreen business and offer customers additional choice and convenience.

The first of the new M&S Food at Applegreen outlets opened in Ennis earlier this month at Applegreen’s Limerick Road location.

Head of M&S Operations at Applegreen, Mark Ryan said: “Our partnership with M&S has been working really well over the past two years, and we’re delighted to be bringing M&S Food at Applegreen to 20 additional locations this year.

“The expansion of our M&S Food partnership is one of the key elements of our growth plans in the Irish market, alongside further investment in our Braeburn Coffee brand, and significant investment in new and upgraded sites.

“We have a hugely dedicated Applegreen team working on our plans to deliver another 20 new M&S Food stores this year and we also have significant support from our partners in M&S.”