Yettel introduces grandparental leave

For the first time in Hungary, new grandparents can take extra days off at Yettel

Nowadays, when grandchildren are born, grandparents are often still active in the labour market and are less able to take their share and support the family than before. In response to this need, Yettel will grant 5 days of paid leave to every employee who has a grandchild starting from November. The extra days can be taken by grandmothers and grandfathers alike.

In the summer of 2021, Yettel introduced paternity leave, giving new fathers and their families an additional 20 days of paid leave on top of the statutory leave. The company is now expanding its work-life balance policies: from November 2023, it will offer 5 days of paid leave to employees with a grandchild. To be eligible for the scheme, the grandchild must be under one year old when the request for extra leave is made.

Grandparental leave is available to grandmothers and grandfathers also for adopted children and twins, provided that the employee has at least one year’s service with the company and takes the 5 days of paid leave within one year of the grandchild’s birth. The leave can be used retroactively for children born after 1 November 2022.

The initiative aims to contribute to the establishment and maintenance of an appropriate work-life balance and family life balance at Yettel, where more than 100 people are currently covered by the newly introduced scheme. With this first-of-its-kind initiative in Hungary, the mobile operator hopes to inspire other employers to adopt similar family-friendly policies.

“As a family-friendly workplace, we believe it is important to support our colleagues, whether they are new parents or grandparents. Recently, one of our employees had a grandchild with complications, and it was a great help that we gave her an extra day off to be with her family at a difficult time. So the idea was born to make this option available to everyone. We believe that the extra days off will be of great help to new grandparents,” said Enikő Szalai, Chief HR Officer of Yettel.