The shift from being a working professional to a parent on leave — taking care of newborn twins — was jarring for Jeff Reznik, director, security advisory with IGM Financial Inc.
“The sudden change from my work role to fatherhood in less than a day was a challenge I was not expecting. Being a parent was a completely new skillset for me,” he said. “Although I knew it was coming for many months, that experience was incomparable to anything else in my life.”
But the fact his employer and his team supported his decision to take parental leave made that transition “much less painful for everyone,” he said. IGM also topped up his employment insurance benefits.“I didn’t have to worry about income on top of everything else at home,” he said.
IGM Financial is one of nearly two dozen Canadian financial firms to have signed a pledge designed to destigmatize parental leave.
The Parental Leave Pledge, developed by Women in Capital Markets (WCM), commits employers to providing paid leave to all parents and ensuring it doesn’t impact career progression, among other items. The 23 signatories include IGM, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., Manulife Financial Corp. and Raymond James Ltd.
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