Linklaters, one of the elite “magic circle” City law firms, has become the first to offer 12 weeks of fully paid paternity leave to UK employees, following similar moves by investment bank Goldman Sachs and fund manager Standard Life Aberdeen in recent months.

In a statement published on December 9, the group said that from January 1 2020 it will offer new parents 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, which will be available to any member of staff “whose partner is having a baby, adopting a child or becoming a parent through surrogacy”.