CBRE tackles the issue of parental leave for property fee writers

Taking a career break to have children can be particularly daunting for property fee writers, taking them out of the market, away from their client networks and often on parental benefits which might not account for commissions.

To help address the issue, CBRE has introduced new parental leave provisions in Australia and New Zealand, which provide enhanced support for all primary carers.

One of the key measures is a shift in how parental pay is calculated to better reflect a fee writer’s income, by calculating this as an average of salary-plus-commission earnings, annualised over the past three years.

More generally, for any employee who takes primary carer’s leave, the paid parental leave offering will effectively rise from 12 weeks to more than 18 weeks. This includes adding two weeks of paid leave to CBRE’s existing primary carer policy and adding a one-month return to work bonus.

“We are committed to supporting our people as they return to work and we want our fee writers to know they can be a primary carer, and have a long and successful career at CBRE,” said Ingrid Massey, CBRE’s Pacific Director of People.

“We’re also providing tailored first year return provisions to help our fee writers rejuvenate their pipelines. More broadly, there are so many things that primary carers need to think about as they transition back into the workplace, which is where our new ‘return to work’ bonus can help with considerations such as childcare fees and meal services.”

CBRE’s parental leave policy applies regardless of gender or sexual orientation and covers birth, adoption, surrogacy, and long-term fostering placement.