How competitive are your parental leave policies?
You probably noticed the news headlines in September about Alice Thompson who was awarded nearly £185K in compensation? Her well-thought-out request for flexibility was turned down without consideration on her return from maternity leave. The payout was based on indirect sex discrimination, since childcare responsibilities are seen as still resting disproportionately with mothers and her flexible working request was to enable childcare pickups. The story made headlines from Breakfast TV to the HR media to LadBible as well as around the world. The coverage was serious and sympathetic, shining a spotlight on parental leave returners as a talent population not to be ignored.
A better future and a more promising present
In her interview on ITV’s This Morning, Alice Thompson spoke eloquently and persuasively about challenging her former employer in order to prevent her young daughter experiencing the same obstacles in 20 or 30 years’ time.
Bright Horizons’ just-published Parental Leave Benchmark tells a more encouraging story about employers’ attitudes to new parents at work. The survey, which is carried out every couple of years, tracks parental leave enhancements and other supports for new working parents. The data this time, from around 700 employers, show:
It’s about more than pay
However, leading provisions now go some way beyond generous periods of paid leave. The Parental Leave Benchmark shows:
Best practice training for managers includes how to respond constructively to flexible working requests, the missed opportunity in Alice Thompson’s case.
So many aspects of the parent transition get better when there is open communication. Without guidance, too many mangers still shy away from conversations, unsure of what to say. Instead, the Benchmark shows more employers equipping managers to consider the business case for every flexible working request, looking at the role’s deliverables with the job holder. Increased specialist coaching for the individual returner also supports a better-prepared dialogue.
Empowering new parents in the hybrid world
Now, more than ever, employers are acutely aware of the importance of retaining talented and knowledgeable people. There is much evidence of the ‘work-life rethink’ prompted both by the pandemic and by new styles of working, for employees at all life stages.
The need to re-engage applies particularly to the new working parent, resuming their professional role following parental leave. As hybrid workers everywhere enthusiastically discuss how it feels to ‘come back in’, we might stop and ask ourselves: how does ‘back to work’ feel to those whose last 6-12 months have been spent bonding and busy with a new addition to their family, while the world shifted on its axis?
Bright Horizons’ own coaching has long included a focus on the new parent staying ‘visible’ at work in career progression terms. That can be harder to navigate within the new norms, so it is not surprising to see the rise in wider provision of coaching and mentoring programmes for returning parents. An experienced sounding board can make a difference in both challenging the individual (or manager’s) habits or expectations and providing a supportive, confidential space to think, and breathe.
Closing the gender gap
Another notable point from the Parental Leave Benchmark is that there is a rise in provision of enhanced paternity or partner leave pay beyond 2 weeks’:
However, in order to truly encourage shared parenting and to remove gender biases from the potential career impact of taking parental leave, paternity / partner packages would need to be a great deal higher, or shared parental leave would need to be better supported.
Some forward-thinking organisations are equalising pay across all types of leave, and it is these employers who will in turn have the better story to tell in their Gender Pay Gap narrative and action plan.
Compare your offering with the marketplace
You can get hold of a copy of the Parental Leave Benchmark here. It provides overview statistics and commentary and a detailed, anonymous league table showing granular policy provisions with sector and size of employer. The report also has recommendations on making the business case for enhanced provision and gaining senior buy-in.
When surveyed about the key drivers for enhanced policies around new parent leave, the top 3 drivers for the 700 participating employers were:
This seems to reflect a genuine understanding that becoming a parent is a key ‘moment that matters’ in the employee experience. And it’s a matter of talent, rather than only the right thing to do.
Discover what average, good and excellent employer support for new parents looks like, and see where your company stands in our league table of parental leave policies.
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