Getting to grips with parental leave
Diana Clement looks at how employers are implementing parental leave policies
Good employees are expensive to recruit, train and retain. It makes sense, therefore, that employers make the transition in and out of parental leave as smooth as possible for their employees.
Katherine Swan, country director for Randstad New Zealand recommends employers have robust policies in place and come to mutual agreement on what will happen before during and after parental leave, to avoid ambiguity.
“It is really important that the employer and employee know their statutory obligations and rights and aren’t left in the grey,” Swan says. “Make it black and white. It is a time of uncertainty for people. Communication is key.”
There also needs to be flexibility because not every employee has the same needs, says Swan.
When the employee returns employers should enlist a high degree of empathy towards the employee who may be feeling stressed about reclaiming their role at work while balancing this with life as a new parent.
Kensington Swan, which was a finalist in the Diversity Works Women’s Empowerment award for 2019 implemented a gender neutral parental leave policy four years ago.
The first “checkpoint” kicks in as soon as the staff member makes the firm aware of the pregnancy, says Emma Gibbins, human resources director at Kensington Swan. A meeting is organised, that outlines the policy, processes and benefits the employee will receive.
The second “checkpoint” involves running through a checklist. The staff member is offered a buddy to keep them up-to-date with what’s happening in the office while away and also a mentor who has been through parental leave with the firm and returned. “It is hard especially for first time parents to know what to expect,” says Gibbins.
“To have someone else you can ask questions of is very useful.”
The best way to communicate during parental leave is also agreed.
The third “checkpoint” is a catch up a few weeks before the member of staff is due to leave. That tends to cover practicalities such as access to IT during leave.
Kensington Swan’s policy ensures that whilst away the staff member is communicated with and kept in the loop through the agreed communication route.
Employees can choose to come in to attend some client meetings during parental leave. Or they may want no contact. There is also a budget should they wish to attend training during this time.
Should there be a salary review during the leave period the staff member is still included to ensure their remuneration doesn’t fall behind because of the leave, says Gibbins.
The workplace will have changed in the employee’s absence. There may be new employees, and different procedures.
The transition back starts with a meeting with the partner in which flexible work arrangements are discussed.
At the end of the first week and the first month back a human resources staff member sits down with the returning employee for a debrief to see how the week/month has gone.
Parental leave policies at Xero are designed to be pragmatic more than prescriptive, says Rob Munro, head of people experience in NZ says Rob. One of the company’s values is “human”, which dovetails nicely with its parental leave policy.
As soon as Xero is informed that the employee will be going on parental leave he/she will be told of their statutory and company entitlements.
Beyond a few global guidelines and entitlements parental leave is treated on a case by case basis, says Munro.
Managers are encouraged to meet with the employee a few times before leave starts. Those meetings cover issues such as how the employee’s work will be handled while they are away, how their career progression will continue in their absence, how much contact the employee would like and the best way to contact them.
Munro says Xero gives the employee the option of keeping hold of (their) work lap top.
That enables logging in to work email and online collaborative communication tools. Employees on parental leave can choose to attend paid baby coffee groups attended by relevant team members. The choice is up to the employee.
Throughout parental leave Xero keeps employees updated with any changes to the business, using the communication channel the individual has chosen for receiving updates, says Munro. Some employees choose largely to disconnect during leave.
About eight weeks before the employee is due to return the manager will get in contact and start talking about the role the employee will be returning to and the hours. Employees have the choice of visiting in the days leading up to their return to say “hi” to the team.
The manager is charged with ensuring that the employee has the right tools to do the job on their return.
“It is a big change to come back. With the human side it is important those people are supported to come back from a health and wellbeing perspective,” says Munro. Xero’s parental leave policy helped it win a Diversity Works Walk the Talk award in 2019.