Following the acquisition last year of local credit insurance company CUAL, French-based Coface has completed the process of converting its Employment Benefit Policies to fall in line with the Group`s international standards.
"One of the first policies to be reviewed was our Maternity Policy," says Coface MD Garth de Klerk.
The policy takes into account the Unemployment Insurance Act (No 63 of 2001) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (No. 95 of 1995).
In terms of the new maternity policy, female employees are now entitled to a minimum of six weeks and a maximum of four months consecutive paid maternity.
Previously, employees were entitled to four months unpaid maternity leave. Employees could then claim benefits from UIF which concurs with maternity policy according South Africa`s labour laws.
De Klerk says employees can now notify Coface of the maternity leave dates four weeks before they intend to commence maternity leave, or reasonably, as soon possible. The benefit being that the employee is paid upfront during pregnancy with no change to their normal salary.
He explains that the benefits employees were previously entitled to will continue during maternity leave. This includes uninterrupted length of service, accumulated leave days and 13th cheque. Group benefits, pension contributions and medical aid contributions are also paid during maternity leave according to the employee`s contract of employment.
Coface receptionist Nadene Jooste, who is currently pregnant with her second child, has been working at the company for six years. She says the new benefits will make a significant difference to her family over her four months maternity leave.
"Previously, the arrival of a new baby meant a loss of income to the family for the time the mother was on leave. This put a financial pressure on most new mothers to return to work, sometimes before they or the babies were ready," she says.
"The continuation of pay and benefits over maternity leave relieves me of the financial strain I might have faced elsewhere and allows me to focus on the baby."
Coface marketing manager Natasha Hardy says, "It is important for a company to retain its skilled and experienced employees. The improved benefits are just one way of demonstrating the value we place upon our staff."
"It is an exciting time for both our staff and customers and this change in policy shows the commitment that the Coface Group has to its team worldwide. These and similar types of policies will motivate our staff to achieve even higher levels of excellence," says Mr de Klerk.
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Founded in 1946, Coface, rated AA by Fitch and Aa3 by Moody`s, is a subsidiary of Natexis Banques Populaires and Groupe Banque Populaire whose share capital (Tier 1) was 14.63 billion euros end 2005. Coface`s mission is to facilitate global business-to-business trade by offering its clients four product lines to fully or partly outsource trade relationship management and to finance and protect their receivables: credit insurance, company information and ratings, receivables management and factoring. Coface also offers three other business lines: guarantee insurance, receivables management training, and, in France, management of government export guarantees. Coface operates a quality local service for its 85,000 clients thanks to its 4,850 staff in 58 countries where Coface has a direct presence. This local service also covers in 93 countries via partners in the CreditAlliance worldwide network, organised around an integrated credit risk management tool, the Common Risk System.
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