Volvo Car Malaysia Boost Employer Engagement Through Family Bond Policy

• People-first Volvo Cars sees more than 160 global employees benefitting from a 24-week paid parental leave

• Volvo Car Malaysia pushes Family Bond to become the industry standard for parental leave

Kuala Lumpur, 12th July 2022 - One year onward from the introduction of its global Family Bond policy, Volvo Car Malaysia continues its pursuit in advocating equal parental leave entitlement, to narrow the gender gap and provide equal opportunities for career growth.

The Family Bond policy gives all employees across Volvo Car Malaysia’s offices and plants with at least one year’s service a total of 24-week parental leave, in which during this period they will be paid at 80 per cent of their salary by default. The Policy is applicable to mothers and fathers, including adoptive parents, which can be taken at any time within their first three years of parenthood.

Speaking on her experience, Veena Menon, CRM Manager at Volvo Car Malaysia, shared: “As a mother of three children, I cannot express how thankful I am to have 24 weeks of paid parental leave when I had my newborn. I value the importance of early attachment in a child’s development, which is why I am grateful I can utilise the benefits from our Family Bond policy to bond and connect with my newborn during the most crucial period of her life.”

“I must say it is indeed empowering to be part of such a modern and progressive organisation. At Volvo, the focus has always been on the people, and through Family Bond, the company has provided both mother and father the opportunity to play an equal role in their child’s upbringing. As we advance as a society, gender equality is of utmost importance and so the conversation of whether one should choose between career or family should never exist. I hope to see more organisations follow in the footsteps of Volvo Cars to offer extended paid parental leave for the betterment of the family unit.”

The Family Bond policy is currently offered to all Volvo Cars 40,000+ employees around the globe, in all plants and offices. To date, over 160 employees have benefitted from the policy globally.

Charles Frump, the Managing Director of Volvo Car Malaysia, concluded: “The Family Bond policy embodies our company’s culture and values. The Malaysian government recently announced an extension to the current parental leave policy, which now allows seven days for working fathers and 98 days for working mothers. This is already a positive step towards the right direction, to build further consideration for equal parental leave entitlement.”

For more information about the Family Bond policy, please visit https://www.volvocars.com/intl/about/family-bond/ or follow Volvo Car Malaysia on Facebook and Instagram for more updates.