Elpha’s Post

Out of 195 countries, only 83* meet the basic standards of the maternity protection convention (2000 no.183). And only 10% meet the recommended standards of R191: “Members should take measures to ensure assessment of any workplace risks related to the safety and health of the pregnant or nursing woman and her child. The results of the assessment should be made available to the woman concerned.” Two of the biggest reasons women do not take full / extended maternity leave is income and fear of stunted progression. These worries can impact an important stage for babies and mothers: Breastfeeding. 🤱 It’s World Breastfeeding Week 1-7th August. 🤱 So let’s talk about working parents, especially those with new-borns. They all need a supportive workplace. A supportive workplace might look a bit like this: 1️⃣ Parental leave: Above statutory for both parents ideally. 2️⃣ Facilities on-site: e.g., a quiet and private room to express/breastfeed. 3️⃣ Flexibility: Breaks for mothers, working hours, remote/hybrid 4️⃣ Clear and fair leave policy: Inclusive of a liveable wage 5️⃣ Childcare facilities: In or close to workplace if possible. 6️⃣ Communication: Not all parents have the same plan. A couple of notes on the above points… 👉 Parental leave not only provides parents the opportunity to bond with each other and their new-born/s, but also enables the partner not breastfeeding to carry out household responsibilities thus allowing the mother time to breastfeed. 👉 Provide your employees on parental leave with their full salary. Period. 👉On the point of communication, it’s important to check in regularly before, during and after parental leave. Employers should be putting a return-to-work plan in place including requirements and any additional support their employee may need. Full parental leave should be encouraged but not forced. Each person is different. We know breastfeeding isn't for everyone, but sleepless nights are still a factor for parents with new-borns!😴 Supportive workplaces are a must ✊ Find out more about the benefits of breastfeeding, the inequalities around the world and other information using the highlighted link below... #worldbreastfeedingweek #WBW2023 #workingparents *2022 statistic. https://lnkd.in/dXpdxvF

World Breastfeeding Week Aug 1-7 World Health Organization Campaign Many parents find themselves unsupported when they go back to work. All women everywhere – no matter their work - should have - At least 18 weeks, preferably more than 6 months, paid maternity leave; - Paid time off for breastfeeding or expressing milk upon returning to work; - Flexible return to work options. What Employers and Managers can do: - Providing maternity leave that – at minimum - meets national requirements - Providing time and space for breastfeeding or expressing and storing breastmilk - Providing options that reduce separation of women from their babies after maternity leave, such as: -Flexible work schedules -On-site childcare -Teleworking -Part-time work -Letting mothers bring their babies to work What Colleagues can do: -Be supportive of flexible work arrangements when women return to work -Championing women’s rights in the workplace What Parents can do: -Learn- Laws -Ask- Employers about accommodations and advocate for themselves -Prepare and find expert support BF FACTS- https://lnkd.in/g7eYaYg SOON.. MORE TO COME this week, CHECK IT OUT! Tips for going back to work too! #WorldBreastfeedingWeek #breastfeedingsupport #breastfeeding #pumpingmom #breastmilk #pumping #Newborn #health #wellness

Happy FRIDAY! And with it...another APRIL CHANGE for BUSINESS OWNERS: Protection from Redundancy for those returning from Maternity, Adoption & Shared-Parental Leave to be extended from April 2024 Prior to April 2024 any parents on Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave or Shared Parental Leave are given special protection in a Redundancy situation and should be offered First Refusal of any suitable alternative employment that is available. The new legislation that comes into effect in April 2024 extends that protection. This means that: For MATERNITY - the special protection covers the pregnancy AND 18 months from the first day of the Estimated Week of Childbirth (this date can be changed to the actual date of birth if the Employee gives notice of this date before the end of their Maternity Leave; For ADOPTION - the special protection covers 18 months from the date of the Adoption Placement For SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE - the special protection covers 18 months from the date of birth, as long as the parent has taken at least 6 consecutive weeks on Shared Parental Leave The special protection for the period of pregnancy only applies where the Employer is notified of the pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024. The special protection for the period after the Leave will apply to any Maternity or Adoption ending on or after 6 April 2024 and any Shared Parental Leave starting on or after 6 April 2024. This change may require some updates to your internal Policies and Staff Handbook - if you want to ensure your are in order, let's have a chat! #BusinessOwner #MaternityLeave #PaternityLeave #AdoptionLeave #SharedParentalLeave

I know nothing of pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum recovery (while managing to keep a child alive)......like nothing. No one with any sense would leave a baby with me. I do not know about it because I have not participated in any of that. Even my best friends that have gone through it, bore the difficulties in silence because they did not want to be ungrateful for their blessings. HOWEVER, it is incredibly hard! I have never had the behind the scene view that I have recently had. Thank goodness cultural attitudes are changing, and women are beginning to share the challenges faced postpartum. Nearly, 1 in 4 American women return to work within two weeks of giving birth, with three-quarters of the women citing financial struggle as the reason why they return to work (cite is in the comments). 💡 If your company is considering paid parental or family leave, share your consideration with you employee population. (Remember it can be as little as 1 to 2 weeks of leave, which would help out a lot.) If the organization cannot afford it, due to labor shortage or financial reasons, share that with the workforce, if they have requested it. Just ignoring their requests...does not make it go away. 💡 Recognizing not all companies can afford the financial toll of paid parental/family leave, consider allowing employees to retain a portion of PTO to use later in the year and not forcing them to 100% of it to run concurrent with FMLA, if eligible. ⚡ Remember, paid parental leave is an extremely useful recruiting and total rewards tool that can assist in attracting and retaining top talent. #Maine just became the 13th state to establish the creation of a paid family and medical leave program. #pregnancy #fmla #paidparentalleave #paidleave #paidfamilyleave #womeninbusiness #womenatwork #women #womenempoweringwomen #postpartum #postpartumsupport

Yesterday was the last day. "The last day" is commonly used when leaving a company on LinkedIn, however, I meant the last day of paternity leave this time. KabuK Style Inc. allowed me to take the leave for 2 months, and I fully stayed with family without works. My son got 3months old now, and there are so many learnings for me such as; - There are few things that ONLY mothers can do like deliveries, breastfeeding etc, in other words, husband can contribute to so many things on childcare and housework etc. - Everything happening on mothers is out of imaginations for husbands. Everything means physical and mental changes and fluctuations. This is one of things husband have to support. I found that mindset we have today is still mothers lead childcare and housework etc, but this will not improve the situation of women's participation in the society. We need parity. I commit contributing more to family so that we can create a society which accept diverse values. I will change my mind, and keep up for next challenges from today.

Pregnancy and maternity leave discrimination exists. In fact, three in four mothers (77%) said they had a negative or possibly discriminatory experience during pregnancy, maternity leave, and/or on return from maternity leave. (https://lnkd.in/espJn2h6) On Saturday, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 came into force. What does this mean? Redundancy protection rights will be extended, meaning greater protections for new parents. They will apply: 🤰From the point an employee informs their employer they are pregnant 🍼Until 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, the child’s birth date, or date of adoption, for employees returning from maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave. It also extends redundancy protection for those experiencing miscarriage. Why has this been needed? 💡 27% of employers feel pregnancy puts an unreasonable cost burden on the workplace (https://lnkd.in/espJn2h6) 💡Maternity Leave Discrimination is a sizeable problem and can't be ignored. 💡 Pregnant women and new mums are twice as likely to be made redundant compared to all working women. 💡 The motherhood penalty is real. (Thanks to Claudia Goldin for proving the link of motherhood to the gender pay gap). 💡Not having enough women in senior positions is linked to motherhood. It's not the perfect solution, but it's a start. #redundancy #maternityleave MotherBoard | Charter, Events & Community HeyFlow Nick Dean Jardine Miles

💪 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 👏 With the theme of this year's #WorldBreastfeedingWeek being 𝑬𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, we have a good opportunity to highlight some key strategies that employers can (and should!) adopt to support working mothers. These include: 🕐 Offering flexible work arrangements 🤝 Educating the wider workforce, creating a more naturally supportive work culture 👶 Exploring collaborations with childcare providers to make this a more viable option for working parents 💰 Ensure that all employees, including working mothers, are treated equitably and are offered fair pay based on their skills and contributions 🤱 And of course, for breastfeeding mothers, offering adequate space and time for expressing and safely storing milk Empowering working mothers is not an act of goodwill; it is a strategic investment in building and retaining a diverse, inclusive, high-performing and happy workforce. For more information on how you can support your team please contact me: 📞 (617) 861 4597 📩 m.mcdaid@mcsgroup.jobs #WorkingMothers #DEI #Culture #WIT #wbw2023 #Breastival

#Motherhood - the weight of this word is not something one can describe. It is something we can simply support with all our hearts. We asked our proud #newmama Benazir Salma Jamin this question: How can we as an industry help mothers thrive in the workplace? This was her answer ⬇️ "We can sugarcoat it as much as we want but motherhood is hard. The transition period after maternity leave is harder. On one hand, we fear missing opportunities, on the other, we have our mother’s guilt. But with an understanding team and supportive policies like Flexible work arrangements, breastfeeding support at work, access to high-quality, and on-site childcare ease the transition - you can solve half the battle. Further assuring equal pay and opportunity ensures motherhood doesn't hold them back." What do you think, do you have any suggestions that would promote a better workplace for #workingmothers? Let us know in the comments! #womenintech

So I urged a friend who is nursing to give her child six months of just breast milk, but she said she could only manage three because of work. Despite her willingness to go above and above for her baby, like many other mothers, they take note of how their short maternity leave and the unpaid time they spend nursing at work affect their infant. “I won't get paid, oo, I have to get back to work, she murmured.” This is the plight of many women. Given the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child (👈🏽see my prior writings), women shouldn't be forced to give up breastfeeding. Encouraging successful breastfeeding at work benefits society by promoting healthier populations and workforces for the future. It's essential to ensure that women don't have to choose between their jobs and breastfeeding, regardless of their workplace or contract type. Maternity protections and support are crucial for improving women's and children's health, but unfortunately, many working women lack access to these provisions. To address this, policymakers can create positive change by enacting legislation for paid maternity leave of at least 18 weeks or preferably more than 6 months. Employers should offer paid time off and dedicated spaces for breastfeeding or expressing milk. It's essential to ensure that all women, including those in informal sectors or on limited contracts, have access to maternity entitlements and are protected from discrimination. Employers and managers play a role by providing maternity leave that meets or exceeds national requirements, along with providing time and space for breastfeeding or expressing milk. Offering options like flexible work schedules, on-site childcare, teleworking, part-time work, or allowing mothers to bring their babies to work can help reduce separation between women and their babies after maternity leave. Colleagues can also contribute by supporting flexible work arrangements for women returning to work and advocating for women's rights in the workplace. Together, these efforts can make breastfeeding at work a successful and achievable reality for all women. Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work! Infograph: World Health Organization #WorldBreastfeedingWeek World Health Organization UNICEF #worldbreastfeedingweek2023 #paidmaternityleave

Did you know that more than half a billion working women globally are denied essential maternity protections in national laws? And just 20% of countries require employers to provide paid breaks and facilities for breastfeeding or expressing milk. The theme of this year's World Health Organization (WHO) UNICEF #WorldBreastfeedingWeek is "Let's make breastfeeding and work, work!" Women shouldn't have to choose between breastfeeding their children and their work. Breastfeeding isn't just a personal choice; it's a vital health and nutritional investment for our children, with positive lifelong impacts. What can we do to make breastfeeding at work, work? 🔹 Policymakers: Advocate for legislation ensuring at least 18 weeks, preferably more than 6 months, of paid maternity leave. Implement provisions obliging employers to provide paid time off and dedicated spaces for breastfeeding or expressing milk. Combat employment-related discrimination against women during and after pregnancy and birth. 🔹 Employers and Managers: Lead the way by providing maternity leave that meets or exceeds national requirements. Offer supportive work environments by providing time and space for breastfeeding or expressing and storing breastmilk. Explore options like flexible work schedules, on-site childcare, teleworking, part-time work, and even allowing mothers to bring their babies to work. 🔹 Colleagues: Be advocates for change in your workplaces. Show support for flexible work arrangements when women return to work after maternity leave. Champion women's rights in the workplace and foster a culture of understanding and empowerment. Breastfeeding is not just an individual responsibility, a women's issue, or a problem for mothers; it's a collective responsibility. Together, we can create an inclusive environment that enables women to nourish their children while pursuing their professional aspirations. By making breastfeeding and work, work, we contribute to building healthier populations and workforces for a better future. #WorldBreastfeedingWeek #EmpoweringWorkingMothers #HealthierWorkforce #SupportAtWork #WorkplaceEquality #GlobalHealth #MaternityProtections #BreastfeedingSupport #GenderEquality