PwC announces new benefits for US-based employees

Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has announced new benefits specifically focused on the personal well-being and families of its US-based staff members. The company now allows employees to work 60 percent of their normal schedule at 100 percent of their pay for four weeks once their parental leave ends.

According to the company, employees have expressed a desire for a phased return to work following a parental leave. "While our new parents value the time off to care for their newborns, they have told us they need extra help phasing back into work when it’s over," PwC said in a statement, according to HR Dive.

PWC's diversity strategy leader Jennifer Allyn said that they are always looking for opportunities to support employees in innovative ways. She added the company recognises that the transition back to work after a leave can be challenging for parents. Such was the reason the PwC introduced a new option to phase back on a part-time schedule at full-time pay. Allyn added that this particular benefit will provide parents with more flexibility to ease back into their careers after welcoming a new child.

The additional benefits also include paid family care leave, which allows eligible caregivers to get four weeks of paid leave, Employee Benefits reports. This will allow them to care for family members with serious health conditions.

Currently, employees are allowed to take up to six weeks of paid parental leave. About 72 percent of the organisation’s fathers have utilised this amount of parental leave. For mothers at PWC in the US, they reportedly take on average 21 weeks of leave overall, which includes parental leave, short term disability, holiday and unpaid leave.

In Australia, the revenue of global consulting firms PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young (EY) topped $7 billion last financial year.

Stuart Kells, the co-author of a new book The Big Four, said that the firms are incredibly important in the country.

PwC has purchased companies that drive infrastructure projects and a stake in an advertising agency.

Short and long-term international secondments are a major draw for employees working at PwC Australia, which again topped the list of companies people want to work for in Australia. The company also gives each employee a birthday day-off, and they can also take a floating public holiday on another day. LinkedIn’s Asia Pacific senior director of Talent and Learning Solutions Jason Laufer said employees are looking forward to great perks.