Westpac Announces Four Week Paid Leave For Employees Undergoing Gender Transition
It what appears to be a first for Australia's big banks.
It’s not often we get to write a positive news story about a bank in 2018 but here we go: Westpac has announced it is now offering a full four weeks of paid leave to employees undergoing a gender transition.
In what appears to be a first for one of Australia’s major banks the new enterprise agreement also includes up to one year of unpaid transgender transition support leave to undertake the varying processes of transitioning gender.
“Westpac has a proud history of supporting the LGBTIQ community and we want to empower employees to be themselves, no matter their gender or sexual orientation,” says a media statement from the banks. “This is something we feel passionate about, so we’re pleased to have it in our EA.”
The four weeks of leave, which can be taken in bulk or in one or more blocks, is an excellent and progressive move from Westpac, allowing employees much needed time off for such moments as gender affirmation surgery and recovery as well as helping with the social transition process for both trans employees and their colleagues.
In a post-marriage equality Australia, trans rights and freedoms continue to be the next big arena for advocacy and change, with numerous laws and policies still existing that either restrict trans people from living full lives or, at worst, enable discrimination.
The new gender transitioning support policy, along with a doubling in domestic and family violence support leave and a new leave scheme for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employees to participate in Sorry Business practices, has yet to be ratified by the Fair Work Commission but is expected to be prior to the enterprise agreement going live.
Good shit Westpac! Let’s hope the other big banks do what they normally do and copy each others’ work ASAP with this one.