A new set of golf clubs? A home brewing kit? A pair of novelty socks? Nah. If you’re looking for the absolute best Father’s Day gift (or Christmas, birthday, or even Valentine’s Day gift for that matter) for any new dad, it won’t be found in any store… it’s paid parental leave.
The reviews for this top gift are off the charts, but unfortunately, this present can be difficult to find in any large quantity.
So, we’ve done the research for you to find some of the employers with the most generous parental leave policies and the most inclusive cultures that are encouraging more men to take up this amazing gift.
Cenitex
Cenitex also encourage the shared caring of parental responsibilities through generous flexible working policies. These policies have been invaluable to Bryn Jones (he/him), Talent Resource Program Advisor:
“With my partner being a shift worker on the frontline in medical care, having an employer that offers flexible working arrangements has been crucial to us as a family. Our little and rather lively three-and-a-half-year-old is often a challenge (as many could attest to) but being able to have that flexibility as opposed my partners rather stringent and inflexible shifts times has been a god send.
“Cenitex, through their flexible working policy has allowed us to easily balance our work and family commitments. I’m so grateful to Cenitex for providing that to me and my family.”
Philip Morris International (PMI)
The enhanced offering for secondary caregivers was a recent policy shift for PMI, one that Silke Muenster (she/her), Chief Diversity Officer, was very proud to share with us:
“Our new minimum parental leave principles are inclusive as they apply to all employees regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and regardless of whether they become parents through birth, adoption, or surrogacy. I see it as another demonstration of how PMI is creating a more inclusive, diverse work environment to meet the challenges and expectations of our people for the 21st-century workplace.”
NetApp
Like most Australian companies, just two years ago NetApp only offered 18 weeks of government-funded parental leave. WORK180 provided them with benchmarking data and research to understand the impact of improving our policies. Anastasia Kiteri (she/her), HR Business Partner shares more on the changes:
“Our first ever paid parental leave policy offered an additional eight weeks at full pay on top of the government-funded leave. Partnering with the WORK180 team, we were able to double that to 16 weeks just several months after our first policy was released. Now we offer an industry-leading 20 weeks, gender-neutral paid parental leave. We also increased our leave for secondary carers to four weeks.
“NetApp moved so quickly to drive change and we were able to have the policy signed off after a single email- the business was fully bought into supporting parents.”
Lion
Since the launch of the policy change that saw the removal of the ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ carer designators (providing the same, gender-neutral paid leave benefits to both parents), Lion have been proud to see a 50/50 split in uptake from men and women.
“I couldn’t be in a happier place when it comes down to combining my family and my work life.”
– Jens Poser (he/him), Insights & Strategy Leader at Lion.
“We’d been talking about it for some time but obviously being able to do it with the support from Lion – actually getting paid for it – just made that decision a hell of a lot easier. When I took those 12 weeks, I was just totally present, no distractions, it was just an awesome experience to feel that.”
– Dean Wharewera (he/him), Culture and Change Leader at Lion.
Ernst & Young (EY)
“Earlier this year I took six weeks of paid parental leave to look after my daughter, Aurelia, while her mother and my partner, Malene, transitioned back to part-time work. It was a great experience spending quality time with Aurelia, experiencing not only what it’s like to be a full-time carer of a 9-month-old (it’s hard but super rewarding!), but also having the ability to properly bond with my daughter.
This flexibility in EY’s parental policy was amazing and continues to be so. However, it extended well before the birth of our daughter.
My partner and I had a long journey to becoming parents. Like many other aspiring parents, we went through IVF. It was a very trying time, particularly with the COVID19 experience thrown in. The EY organization and teams were very supportive throughout the process and provided me with the flexibility to ensure my partner and I could focus on what was important.”
– Sean Vincent (he/him), Associate Director, Infrastructure Advisory – Strategy and Transactions at EY.
Transurban
The removal of the primary and secondary designators for paid parental leave was a recent policy change for Transurban, but an important one. Leeza Young (she/her), Senior Talent Acquisition Advisor, says:
“We did this because we’re committed to creating a culture of inclusion and equality. It’s important we play our role in breaking down stereotypical gender norms and to facilitating, to the extent we’re able, positive societal impacts by enabling partners to form strong connections in their children’s early lives. Since the changes were made, we saw the number of males that took parental leave triple in comparison to the year prior, which is fantastic to see.”
David Counsell (he/him), Head of Network Maintenance and Environment is one of the fathers who has been able to take advantage of the new policies.
“I was pretty fortunate as my parental leave coincided with my daughter’s first term of prep and my son’s first term of kinder. So not only did I get to spend time with our youngest, but I also got to drop the older two off and pick them up for those milestone school days.”
Accenture
Accenture understand the importance of offering equitable opportunities for men and women to better share the load when it comes to caring responsibilities. Accenture’s parental leave is available to parents of any gender, and they actively encourage male employees to take leave and leverage flexible working.
“One of my criteria for choosing a new employer was its policies around parents, especially same-sex parents, as Michael and I progressed further along the surrogacy process. A lot of roles I applied for did offer parental leave for fathers, but only a maximum of two weeks, even for same-sex couples. Accenture’s culture around LGBTQI+ inclusion and family-friendly policies like 18 weeks paid parental leave that are open to all employees, regardless of gender, were a big reason for choosing to work here.”
– Daniel Montgomery-Morgan (he/him), Associate Director, Strategy and Consulting at Accenture ANZ
Have the employers above inspired you?
Be sure to see the other great diversity, equity, and inclusion work they’re doing by checking out their Endorsed Employer Pages:
