Workplaces need to do more to give dads time with their kids: experts
DADS are failing to get the flexibility or parental leave they want at work and it’s a big issue according to experts.
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EXCLUSIVE
IT’S the great workplace elephant not being discussed.
Dads are still struggling to get equal rights at work when it comes to parental leave and flexibility with a new survey of Aussie fathers showing 40 per cent believe their workplace parental leave policy is not equal for both sexes.
News Corp Australia can reveal the findings of the survey by parent support platform Circle In that has found a total of 75 per cent of males who have taken parental leave, have taken less than 4 weeks leave, with 50 per cent taking just 1-2 weeks leave.
Less than half of the dads surveyed this month believe their employer openly encourages fathers to take parental leave with a culture of stigma attached to men who want to be involved in their kids’ lives and also maintain a career.
This compares to many mothers who on average take 32 weeks parental leave according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and 14 per cent of mothers not returning to work within 12 months of giving birth as found by the Millennium Mums survey.
For those 508 Australian fathers who took part in the Circle In study and had not taken parental leave, the main barriers were demands of their job (29 per cent), paid parental leave wasn’t offered (26 per cent) and a lack of a supportive workplace (22 per cent).
Experts say fathers are missing out on important time to bond with their kids and workplaces need to do more to promote equal access to parental leave and flexibility.
Kate Pollard, co-founder of Circle In, said it was time for workplaces to “normalise” working dads and move the discussion from “working mothers” to “working parents”.
“We believe men participating equally in parental leave and flexible work will have the single biggest positive impact for women,” Ms Pollard said.
Founder of Male Champions of Change and UN Special Rapporteur Elizabeth Broderick said Australian CEOs involved in the MCC program were seeing a “big shift” with more couples wanting to be equally involved in raising their children “and men more so than in the past”.
“We need senior male leaders who visibly take parental leave and work flexibly as this sends a strong message that you can be an engaged father and a serious player at work,” the former sex discrimination commissioner said.
Lyndall Strazdins, director of the Research School of Population Health at the Australian National University, said more needed to be done to highlight organisations that were getting things right.
“We could have awards to get organisations to report on paternal leave policies, have 50/50 goals or a use it or lose it policy as Norway and many other countries leading this space have,” Dr Strazdins said.
Deloitte CEO Richard Deutsch said his firm had made an effort to promote equitable parental leave and flexible work and as a result had seen a 128 per cent increase in the number of men taking such leave over the past 12 months.
Mr Deutsch said the government should also do more.
“The government does have a role to play to elevate the conversation and talk about what is important in terms of the environment in which organisations operate and therefore their ability to be innovative and creative on these issues,” he said.
Minister for Jobs and Women Kelly O’Dwyer said having accessible parental leave and flexibility for every parent was “crucial”.
“With Australian women far more likely to work part-time than men, there is no doubt that Australia has a ‘flexibility gap.’
It has a substantial effect on women’s incomes, promotional opportunities and retirement savings, as well as on children and their fathers.”
‘Best thing to happen to my family’
Brisbane’s Steve Ashton, 38, says he “fell into” having more time with his girls Chloe, 4, and Olivia, 2 but believes it was the best thing that could have happened to his family and his career.
The Carina Heights-based financial broker who now runs his own small business was working for two major banks when both his girls were born and said he was not supported to take a lengthy period of parental leave or work flexibly at either of them.
“I had three weeks off with Chloe at the first workplace and two weeks for Olivia when I was at a different workplace,” Mr Ashton told the Sunday Mail.
“It wasn’t really accepted in the culture to take longer than that.”
Twelve-months after returning from his leave after Olivia’s birth, Mr Ashton accepted a redundancy at the bank and was propelled into being more available for his family.
“Now that I am running my own business it is great because I can structure my hours around when I need or want to spend more time with the girls,” Mr Ashton said.
“I do all the pick ups and drop offs and I love being there with them and for them.”
Mr Ashton said it should not take accepting a redundancy and setting up your own business for dads to get the time they need with their children.
“I wish I was there from the beginning in the capacity I am now but I didn’t recognise it as a realistic option because of the culture of the workplaces I was employed at,” Mr Ashton said.
“We need to address this as a society and value the input of both mums and dads.”
“It is the best thing happen to me as a parent and a husband because you understand so much more of what the ask is and how relentless the job can be when you’re able to be there and be involved.”
‘It was the most rewarding time’
Sydney’s Karim Raphael, 36, is a dad to 15-month-old Thomas and it’s by far his proudest achievement.
The director in the Global Tax Practice at PriceWaterhouse Coopers has been supported to be hands on throughout little Thomas’s life and it’s something Mr Raphael encourages all dads to do.
“A number of internal campaigns were conducted calling for more dads to take leave or work flexibly during Thomas’s pregnancy and several of our partners led by example and took leave, so for me it was a really easy decision to make,” Mr Raphael, who is based in Manly, said.
Mr Raphael took three weeks off after Thomas was born and then took a further 15 weeks when his son was four-months-old.
“It was the most rewarding time and I was able to build a bond with my son I just wouldn’t have had otherwise,” he said.
“Part of me felt guilty walking away from the business for that time, but I had very senior people encouraging me to take the time and my wife is a professional too so we wanted to work out a way in which we could share things equally.”
Mr Raphael said businesses should see offering flexibility and leave to both parents during the early years “as an investment”.
“Professional environments are changing and this absolutely should be the norm that it is not only offered but openly encouraged,” he said.
“For my wife and I the biggest thing for us is we now have a clear understanding of what our expectations are of each other from a professional and family perspective and we are in it together.”
‘It makes you a better leader’
Melbourne’s Brad Clucas, 39, is a loving dad to kids Hudson, 4, and Taylor, 20 months.
He also happens to be the Head of Sales Transformation for the National Australia Bank and juggles his role as a dad with that of a successful career.
But it hasn’t always been easy for the Newport resident, nor has Mr Clucas always gotten the balance right.
“With Hudson I only took four weeks of leave after his birth and then I went straight back into full-time work. I missed his first steps because I was away travelling for work. It was hard,” Mr Clucas told the Sunday Herald Sun.
With daughter Taylor, Mr Clucas knew he wanted things to be different and so he took 14.5 weeks of parental leave when she was nine-months-old to spend time together as a family and be the primary carer for a period of time.
His wife Kristy, 35, returned to work full time.
“It was such a wonderful experience because never before had I given myself permission to just sit with the kids for hours and do nothing else but play with them,” Mr Clucas said.
“It was great not only to bond with Taylor but also Hudson more.”
Now Mr and Mrs Clucas — who is a General Manager at NAB — are both back at work full-time but both try to work from home once a week to spend more time with the kids.
The pair share childcare drop offs and pick ups and Mr Clucas said he makes an effort to let his colleagues know how important family time is.
“Asking for flexible arrangements is not a wrong thing to do and I feel taking the leave and recalibrating how we as a family work has enhanced my career. I am a better people leader for mums on maternity leave as well as dads wanting flexibility as I understand the struggles,” Mr Clucas said.
“Family should be number one and having a more happy family life means you’re available to give more at work. I would encourage every father or father-to-be to take the leave and spend time with your kids.”
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