New dads at financial services group ING will be able to take a month’s paid leave to adjust to having a new baby, after agreement was reached on a new pay and conditions deal between the bank and banking unions.

The new deal also allows the over-60s to do a day’s voluntary work a week without an impact on their salary or pension, gives all staff a pay rise 1.7% and an extra day’s holiday. The agreement covers all 14,000 ING staff in the Netherlands.

Efforts to increase the amount of statutory paid leave given new fathers in the Netherlands – currently just two days – have stalled pending the outcome of the coalition talks and employers had criticised the planned increase to five days as too expensive.

‘This is great news considering that our country is a laughing stock in Europe when it comes to paternity leave,’ Amsterdam university professor Louis Tavecchio, told the Volkskrant. ‘The standard which a big company such as ING is now setting will definitely have an impact.’