The MUMSNET Publish Parental Leave Campaign
*Not an ad – just something I feel passionately about*
If you were offered a new job tomorrow, could you be confident that you were making the right decision for you and your family?
Looking for a new job when you have children or are planning to increase the size of your family in the not so distant future can be tough. Not only can the interview process itself be stressful but it can be difficult to get all the information you need in order to make the right choice, as despite the gender pay gap, very few companies are completely transparent when it comes to their pay, benefits and parental leave packages.
In their latest campaign, Publish Parental Leave, Mumsnet are calling for all employers to share their parental leave policies for all potential applicants to see, including maternity, paternity and adoption leave. At a minimum this should include the number of weeks paid and what proportion of their usual salary the employee can expect to receive. As a HR Advisor by day and someone who has been through statutory maternity leave twice, this is something I am completely behind.
The Parental Leave Dilemma
When you’re applying for a new job there are lots of things you may take into account. The obvious things are the starting salary, location and the benefits package, including flexible working, working from home, healthcare, pension, and holiday entitlement. Chances are, most of this will be discussed with you at interview or offer stage, allowing you to make a relatively informed decision about whether or not this is the right career move for you. You can weigh up the pros and cons, look at the net difference on your take home and in general, calculate whether or not the overall package is competitive for you and your family’s requirements.
However, what if you plan to have another baby any time soon?
When it comes to parental leave, maternity pay and the finer details of these policies, many businesses choose not to publish this information online or at interview, making it very difficult to decide if the move is actually a good choice.
But why should this be the case?
Your current employer may offer a very strong enhanced maternity package, whereas the prospective employer may only offer statutory maternity pay. The impact could be pretty significant and is therefore a crucial part of your decision, but most people understandably don’t feel comfortable dropping out this question at the end of an interview.
When I fell pregnant with Erin, it all happened very quickly, and because having a family wasn’t at the forefront of my mind (in any shape or form) when I applied for the job, I didn’t even give their maternity packages a second thought. Suddenly however I was faced with a statutory only maternity leave policy, something which had a significant impact on my take home pay. After 6 weeks at 90% of my normal salary, my pay dropped hugely meaning money was pretty tight! If you are a high earner, the drop to statutory maternity pay which is currently just £148.68 per week, is something that ideally needs to be prepared for, to enable budgeting and planning but there is a complete lack of transparency in most cases.
Mumsnet is calling for employers to make this small cost free change and in a similar way to their gender gap reporting, providing public accountability for their policies and allowing applicants to make informed decisions.
In their recent survey, 91% of Mumsnet respondents supported the proposal, with 8 out of 10 stating they weren’t willing to ask about parental leave policies at interview for fear of making a job offer less likely.
Mumsnet’s research found that currently only 23 of FTSE 100 companies publish their policies online, with many simply referring to them as “Generous” or “Competitive”. Since Mumsnet got in touch, 8 have agreed to actively review their policies, 12 have plans to publish in the near future,and 3 have since published theirs as a result of the campaign – well done Mumsnet!
I really hope that employers start to review their parental leave policies and publish them for all to see, allowing us to celebrate policies that are inclusive to both male and female employees, and encouraging other employers to do the same. Not only will this help produce a more supportive culture for working parents, but with both parents wanting to take leave in order to help raise their family, this would be a great potential way to help close the gender pay gap.
Does your employer share the information? If you feel comfortable doing so, why not ask your employer whether they have any plans to change this?
