: Goldman offers more retirement contributions, paid leave for miscarriages and six-week sabbaticals to boost ‘mental health’

The new benefits at Goldman Sachs
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include paid leave for miscarriage as well as increasing paid leave entitlement for loss of an immediate family member and a six-week sabbatical for long-tenured employees.

Specifically, Goldman Sachs will increase its retirement matching contributions for U.S. employees to 6% of total compensation, up from 4%, and contribute 8% of total compensation for employees making $125,000 or less with no requirement for employees to contribute the first 2%. As a result of employee feedback, the bank will no longer require a one-year waiting period for firm contributions for new joiners.

Goldman Sachs will also provide 20 days of paid family care leave for a miscarriage for an employee, spouse or surrogate, as well as the loss of a family member, including spouse, domestic partner, or child.

Globally, up to five days of bereavement leave for non-immediate family members will be available.

Employees with 15 years or more of service may take six weeks of unpaid leave for a sabbatical, with an additional two weeks for every five years of service at the firm thereafter. The firm estimated that 4,000 employees globally will be eligible for this program.

A bank spokesperson cited research from the Harvard Business Review that showed that time away allowed employees the space to generate new ideas for innovating in the organization and helped them gain greater confidence in themselves as leaders.

The enhancements, which were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal, represent the most significant changes to Goldman Sachs employee benefits since the introduction of Pathways to Parenthood [fertility coverage] in 2019, according to a source.