Since 2017, Kering, currently present in nearly 50 countries, has been giving its female employees a 14-week leave period on full pay in the case of maternity or adoption, and a five-week leave for paternal or “partner” leave.From January 1 2020, Kering “will make all its male employees worldwide eligible for a 14-week paternity or partner leave. With parental leave, all parents, with no exceptions and regardless of their personal situation, will benefit from the same fully paid 14-week leave entitlement for the birth or adoption of one or more children,” stated the group led by François-Henri Pinault.

In the press release, Kering emphasised its “pioneering parental policy”, but did not disclose the resources it will set aside for these provisions. Notably, the latter are more favourable than those stipulated by the vast majority of legislation on parental and adoption rights for men worldwide.For example, in France, fathers are entitled to a three-day birth leave and an 11-day paternal leave. The adoption leave entitlement is instead 10 weeks, which can be shared between the parents.Kering said it wants “to promote a better work-life balance, and equal conditions between its male and female employees, irrespective of their family situation.”Béatrice Lazat, HR director at Kering, added that “by harmonising the entitlements of fathers and partners, we are making sure not only that all our employees enjoy the same rights, hence they are also able to devote the same amount of time to their families, but we are also acting in favour of women in the workplace, where both women and men will now be entitled to take a prolonged leave period.”Parental leave will have to be taken in the six months following the birth of the child or children.Of the total number of Kering employees, 60% are women. The share is 51% among managers, 31% on the executive committee and 60% on the board of directors. Kering said that it has set itself “the goal of achieving parity between men and women, and equal pay at all levels of its structure, by 2025.”In 2018, the group generated a revenue of €13.7 billion.