Case study: How employers are putting their family-friendly policies into practice
Totaljobs and the Fawcett Society’s report, ‘Paths to parenthood: Uplifting new mothers at work’, focuses on the experiences of new mothers transitioning back to work after maternity leave. Find out how to put your family-friendly policies into practice by taking inspiration from leading employers such as Aviva and the Lifetime Training Group.
The second edition in our ‘Paths to parenthood’ series brings forth the experiences of working mothers, specifically when they come back to work from maternity leave.
Our research, in partnership with the Fawcett Society, found that 4 in 5 (84%) mothers face difficulties when they return from maternity leave. Although 85% of employers have specific policies for employees returning from maternity leave, often the policies don’t translate into on the ground support. As a result, 1 in 10 mothers (11%) quit their jobs.
To provide real life examples from employers fostering family-friendly workplaces, we asked Aviva and the Lifetime Training Group how they support new parents – especially mothers – when they return to work from leave.
Aviva: Supporting employees in balancing work and childcare
Every parent recognises the fulfilment as well as the challenges that come with having a new born child. Such a life-changing event shakes things up, and it may take a while for people to make the necessary adjustments to balance work and childcare. We found that 39% of mothers, and 27% of fathers struggle to balance work and childcare commitments when returning to the workplace. Here’s how Aviva supports new parents during this transitional time.
Having responsibilities out of work doesn’t mean people are not committed to their jobs.
Aviva’s equal parental leave gives all new parents and adopters, regardless of gender, up to one year of leave, within the first 12 months of a child’s arrival of which 26 weeks’ is at full basic pay. If both parents are at Aviva, both are entitled to leave. Since its introduction in 2017, equal parental leave has been taken at Aviva over 3,200 times, with men making up nearly half of leave takers.
Danny HarmerChief People OfficerColleagues taking parental leave have told us they want help on balancing their career and caring before and after leave. We now provide 90-minute group coaching sessions for colleagues preparing to go on leave or returning from leave as well as the leaders of those colleagues – giving our people even more support to solve the puzzles of work and family life when they need it most.
Promoting open communication to create an inclusive workplace culture is another key factor in supporting parents, which not only benefits mothers but your entire workforce. We found that 27% of women felt uncomfortable discussing their parenting needs with their supervisor. This highlights the need to upskill managers in recognising the challenges childcare responsibilities bring, and offer support that works.
We know that personal responsibilities and circumstances change, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. We encourage colleagues to complete a Workplace Adjustment Passport to reflect any specific health, caring or ability challenges, so we can support our people and there is no need to repeat conversations if a colleague changes their team or leader.
Danny HarmerChief People Officer
Lifetime Group: Embedding flexibility that makes work work for everyone
Our research shows that flexibility is the #1 type of support mothers would like to see, but only 1 in 3 have access to flexible work arrangements. Affordability and accessibility of childcare is a significant challenge mothers face, and a lack of flexibility at work often exacerbates this problem.
Clearly communicating to our people that they could benefit from flexible work really made a difference.
As Lifetime Group, we enhanced our family-friendly benefits this year and compared to prior arrangements, those eligible now have at least doubled their total take home pay for any period of maternity/paternity/shared parental leave they take.
We also offer the standard around flexible working such as hybrid working and adjustable hours. But the key thing is that our workplace culture is one built on trust, and we don’t expect formal requests from employees when they need to attend to personal matters such as an important appointment. For example, there may be times where there’s a parents evening or perhaps a concert at school and you don’t need to request to have leave at that time, we just trust that you work around it.
Di GwinnellPeople DirectorWe also implemented more flexibility for parents returning from leave. We offer a phased return to work where you get full pay as soon as you come back from maternity/shared parental leave, but you work 50% of your contract hours in the first week and then 75% in the second week. Ultimately, our people deliver life changing support for the apprentices they coach and we want to ensure we support our own people through their life changing moments too. It’s clear that our staff was looking forward to these family-friendly benefits, because we received really strong feedback.
Paths to parenthood: Uplifting new mothers at work
In our research, it’s made clear that there’s a strong case to be made for becoming a family-friendly employer to attract and retain talent. 66% of the general UK population, and 72% of mothers view employers who offer family-friendly benefits more positively.
However, we found a disconnect between family-friendly policies and on-the-ground support available to parents, specifically to new mothers.
The return from maternity leave is a crucial time for women’s careers, yet almost 2 in 5 (39%) mothers struggle with balancing work and childcare during this period. Although most employers (85%) have specific policies to support parents in returning to work, applying them in practice is key to create a family-friendly workplace.
We found that 76% of HR leaders face challenges when implementing policies to support with childcare, including a lack of management support for a flexible work culture. Positively, 82% of employers say they want to increase their support for parents.
Our report ‘Paths to parenthood: Uplifting new mothers at work’ illustrates the experiences of working mothers and offers practical solutions for employers.
Read a summary of our findings below.
New research from Totaljobs and the Fawcett Society highlights the lack of support new mothers receive at work, and the long-term effect this has on their opportunities. The report deep dives into the challenges working mothers face when returning from maternity leave as they balance childcare responsibilities. Plus, the impact on businesses.
Explore our key insights below, or download the full guide, to see how you can uplift, engage, and champion working mothers throughout their career, while attracting new talent and retaining your valued workforce.