GLOBAL WORKPLACE EQUALITY LEADER URGES CHANGES TO PARENTAL LEAVE AMENDMENT BILL
Enhanced paid parental leave and gender-neutral policies are key if Australian employers are to meet gender and wage gap targets says Parents At Work CEO Key Points Parents At Work CEO Emma Walsh will today appear before a Senate Committee Inquiry to push for world-leading parental leave policies for Australia’s 7.3 million working […]
Lessons from Australia: how family-friendly policies support gender equality
Published this week in a special edition Essays on Equality: The politics of childcare, from the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership, is Lessons from Australia: how family-friendly policies support gender equality from founder and CEO of Family Friendly Workplaces and Parents At Work Emma Walsh. Chaired by Hon Julia Gillard AC, the publication features a […]
4 day work weeks and stronger leave policies: The top workplace trends we’ll see in 2023
In many respects the illusive future of work has arrived – the monumental shifts in how and where we work that have occurred over the past three years are vast and have tested the boundaries of the employee-employer relationship at work and at home like never before. Flexible work took on a whole new dimension […]
The ‘investment’ over ‘deficit’ of paid parental leave – is Australia family-friendly enough?
It’s fair to say there’s been a reboot and reinvigorated discussions around the criticality of investing in paid parental leave reform this year from across political divide, industry and community groups. There’s a broad recognition that Australia scores poorly on paid parental leave funding and that we need more fathers incentivised to use it. […]
How family-friendly employers are thinking about what it means to ‘care’
A summary by Women’s Agenda of the Inaugural Work&Care Summit (October 2022) speaking to the opportunities businesses have to support greater work life wellbeing. ING has seen the number of men taking paid parental leave increase threefold since becoming the first bank to remove ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ labels from their paid parental leave policy […]
The sick day and office ‘perks’ need an overhaul to support mental health
The need for and the way we use a ‘sick day’ changed dramatically during the pandemic. For some employees, access to paid sick leave remains challenging due to the workplace culture or environment and due to employee shortages. Meanwhile, with the rise of flexible and remote work options, many employees feel the pressure to […]
Workplaces have the power to help end family and domestic violence
We know that employers play a key role in supporting those experiencing domestic and family violence. But with the shift in working from home, the access to a physical “safe space” in a workplace that survivors were accessing prior to the pandemic has significantly reduced. During periods of lockdown, when Australians were required to […]
Finally, we’re seeing big policy promises that will transform Australia
The last few weeks have seen once-in-a-generation policy promises announced that could significantly transform the future for families in Australia, as well as our overall economic prosperity with improved women’s workforce participation. These policy changes have come from state and federal governments, and cover early childhood education, paid parental leave and other areas encouraging […]
Formalising flexibility has helped this workplace become more family friendly
Sue Whipps has always been a strong advocate for the flexibility that family friendly workplaces provide employees. As the Country Head of People and Organisation for Novartis Australia and New Zealand, a global healthcare company and accredited Family Inclusive Workplace, she strives to create an environment where every employee has the opportunity to realise […]
How some of Australia’s largest companies are supporting working parents
Last week was the United Nations’ Global Parent’s Day (June 1). To mark the occasion, UNICEF Australia and Parents At Work released a new research report highlighting Australian workplace policy progress around supporting working families. Progress has been slowly improving over the last few years as companies look to make flexible work practices mainstream, […]