Employees of Zomato, whether male or female, will be entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity and paternity leave.
This represents a huge change for the UAE where women are currently entitled to 45 days paid maternity leave and men to only three days of paternity leave.
The new policy from the restaurants, reviews and food delivery platform, includes non-birthing parents, such as those involving surrogacy or adoption.
In addition, parents will be given an endowment of $1,000 per child to help support them welcome their new baby.
All employees who welcomed a child six months before the policy change will also enjoy the new benefits.
Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO, Zomato, said: “I believe that people produce their best work when their personal and professional goals meaningfully intersect and align. I also believe that young parents should be able to make a choice on how to care for their children.
“However, the lack of universal paid parental leave currently makes it complicated for many parents to effectively lead a healthy family life, and focus on their careers at the same time. It takes a village to raise a child. And while a village is ideal, a world where both parents are allowed to assume equal responsibility is a fair start.”
Zomato has already adopted a number of ground-breaking policies – from the elimination of probationary periods for new employees to offering complimentary mental health support through an in-house psychiatry team.
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