BenefitBump’s Post

𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞: 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 The recent Supreme Court ruling on extending childcare leave has reignited the conversation around parental leave policies. But instead of framing this as a binary issue of "maternity leave vs. childcare leave," let's shift the lens to: * 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Extending parental leave, regardless of gender, fosters a culture that prioritizes early childhood development. This can have a positive ripple effect on employee productivity, engagement, and loyalty in the long run. * 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Parental leave isn't a perk, it's a strategic tool. Flexible work arrangements that support both mothers and fathers contribute to a more balanced and resilient workforce. * 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞: The future of work is about agility and output, not just hours clocked. Parental leave policies that promote work-life balance can empower employees to deliver their best work. As HR advisor, I would love to help businesses craft parental leave policies that are not just compliant, but forward-thinking. Let's build workplaces that recognize the changing dynamics of families and empower employees to thrive. #ParentalLeaveEvolution #FamilyForwardWorkplaces #FlexibilityForAll #ChildcareCultureShift #InclusiveParentalLeave #WorkLifeBalanceWins #EmployeeEmpowerment #ProductiveParenthoodVelocida Private Limited #GenderNeutralLeave #accelerateyouraspirations #FutureOfWorkWellness

Well, some sobering stats for an Autumn morning in London: 85% of mothers struggle to find a job that can accommodate their childcare needs. Flexible working is the #1 type of support parents call for, but only 31% of mothers currently have a flexible arrangement. As a result, 79% of mothers face difficulty advancing their career and nearly a fifth (19%) have considered leaving their job due a lack of parental support. So says UK-based research from TotalJobs and the Fawcett Society. In 2023. Click the link to find out what else they discovered about the landscape for working mothers today, including those fresh back from maternity leave. Might be helpful to those trying to make the case for building out or enhancing their organisations' parental leave and family-friendly strategies. (With, of course, the positive knock on effect that a strengthened offer would bring for their employer brands.) #employerbrand #employeeengagement #workingmothers #employeeretention

#Parental #leave, one of those tricky areas prospective employees try and research before accepting or even applying for a role. While many companies will talk up other benefits, this is one that often remains undisclosed until you are in the organisation.   I am proud to work for an organisation that offers six-months gender-blind parental leave for all parents, supported by a six-month phase back period. Critically, Kearney offers financial support for fertility, adoption and monthly childcare subsidies until school age. Switzerland has the world’s most expensive day care, so this particularly helpful!   Having returned to work after taking parental leave for my second child, and I feel so grateful to have benefited from Kearney’s #Family #Flex package. But also proud of the breadth and depth on offer. These policies do not eliminate gender inequalities in the workplace or home overnight, but they are a critical step in the right direction. https://lnkd.in/e4-4biZt

Redundancy protection for new and expectant parents The Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 are also set to be brought into force on 6 April 2024. These regulations (still in draft form) will extend the added protection currently afforded to employees on maternity, adoption and shared parental leave during a redundancy exercise. Employees on these types of leave have a right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, where one exists, before all other employees. Employees who inform their employer of their pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024 will also now receive the added protection throughout their pregnancy and all the way through to 18 months after the baby’s date of birth if the employee tells their employer of this date. If not, the protected period will end 18 months after the expected week of childbirth. Employees taking adoption leave will be covered for 18 months from the date of placement. Employees whose maternity leave or adoption leave ends on or after 6 April 2024 will be entitled to the added protection in so far as it applies to the period after the birth/adoption. #employmentlaws #hradvice #hrconsultancy #redundancy #maternityleave

A lack of flexible working arrangements, unaffordable childcare, glass ceilings, broken rungs and outdated attitudes around motherhood – it’s the depressing story that so many working mums are so used to.   If companies are going to reduce their gender pay gap and retain their talented working mums, there’s so much more that needs to be done. One area that could help is companies implementing Equal Parental Leave. Elliott Rae recently highlighted 74 organisations in the UK who are paving the way by equalising their paternity and maternity leave policies. While it’s only one of the many things that companies can do to help reduce the motherhood penalty, PwC’s 2023 Women in Work index shows some pretty impressive estimates if UK fathers took more paternity leave: 💷 An additional 720,000 women in the UK would remain in full time employment (over the 20 year analysis period), contributing to an increase in lifetime earnings for women. ❤️ 230,000 mothers and 240,000 fathers would no longer suffer from postpartum depression (over the 20 year analysis period). ❤️ 66,000 children every year (10% of births) would score one grade higher in either mathematics or English at GCSE once they reach high school age; leading to an increase in their lifetime earnings of £330m. 💷 Employers would benefit from cost savings of £260 million each year in reduced recruitment and turnover, which would partially offset costs of additional leave provision.   #InternationalParityatWorkDay #GenderPayGap #EqualParentalLeave #WorkingParents

📊 Did you know 41% of Peruvian women don't return to work after becoming mothers? Discover practical tips to support working moms and retain valuable talent. 💼👩👧👦 Swipe through our PDF for strategies on flexible work, childcare support, inclusive cultures, and fair parental leave. Let's build a supportive and inclusive workplace together! 🌟 #EmployeeEngagement #WorkingMothers #InclusiveWorkplace

I took part in a thought-provoking roundtable event earlier this week with Parents in PR discussing support for parents working in PR. Chaired by Alexandra Stevens, the conversation went from flexible working to childcare support (or lack of), to company policies and culture, and showed that regardless of agency size, or sector, we all need to talk about how we can best support working parents. Alex shared some shocking, but unsurprising stats about the state of play that show how much work we all have to do, collectively, to make things better. These are just a few: 😮 Nearly a third of mothers reported having no support when transitioning back to work, rising to 42 per cent for those who took 26-52 weeks of maternity leave (The Fawcett Society / TotalJobs, 2024) 🙁 1 in 3 Dads don’t feel comfortable talking to their employer about family commitments (Bright Horizons, 2023) 😔 More than four in 10 women said they felt isolated and disconnected from colleagues upon returning from parental leave (The Fawcett Society / TotalJobs, 2024) At Ready10 Ltd, one of our five company values is support. This shapes a huge part of our culture at the agency, and it comes into its own when we support our working parents, whether they’re heading off on parental leave, want to discuss flexible working, or returning to work - we aim to be open, honest and transparent in all our conversations to make sure they feel as supported as possible. There’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all magic button we can press and hey presto! we’ve fixed the industry’s problems, but we are at least having open and honest conversations about it, and that’s a start. Onwards. Great discussion with Katie Fox, Ana Williams, Jessica Hope, Rohan Shah, Kathryn Myers, Lucy Newson and Marcia La-Rose FPRCA, CMPRCA and Joe Moor 🙌

#HRNews Details on who qualifies for the enhancements, how working parents can change their shared parental leave arrangements, and more. https://lnkd.in/g94kt4ty

#WorkingDads: have you ever said that you needed to leave work, or couldn’t meet with a client outside of work hours, or needed to take a longer paternity leave, or needed a flexible work arrangement, because of childcare responsibilities? If not, why not? Did you not feel able to because of work or social pressure? Does someone else (paid or unpaid) do your childcare? Did you just not feel it was necessary to verbalise? If there’s one takeaway I have from Elliott Rae’s #ParentingOutLoud campaign for Dads, it’s how critically important it is — for the achievement of a more equitable workplace and world — for dads to lean in at home, embrace the messiness and beauty and life-altering weight of caregiving, and do so loudly. Particularly, if you’re in a position of power in an industry that is grossly gender imbalanced at the top level (e.g., law), I urge you to reflect on this. Please. For the future of the world you’d like our children to live in. For your legacy. #EqualParenting #GenderEquity #GenderBalance #GenderEquality #WomenInLaw #WomenInLeadership

A few highlights from the #ParentingOutLoud campaign for anyone that missed it