On 6 November 2023, the Fawcett Society, in collaboration with TotalJobs, published an employer's guide on supporting new mothers at work. The report aims to offer practical steps for employers to create a more family-friendly work environment to enhance employee retention, productivity, and overall well-being.

The full guidance can be found here: Paths to Parenthood: Uplifting new mothers at work - we have summarised the essential points below.

The report’s key findings include:

• 11% of mothers leave their jobs due to childcare pressures, with 41% rejecting promotions.
• 84% of mothers find it difficult to return to work after maternity leave.
• Only 1 in 3 mothers have access to the flexible work they require.
• 72% of parents have had to take unpaid leave due to their childcare duties.
• More than 25% of mothers felt uncomfortable addressing their parenting needs with their supervisor.

As a result, the following recommendations for employers were set out:

• Build a clear policy framework to be shared with management and employees before parental leave begins. The policy should cover discussions on level of contact, keeping-in-touch days, return to work meetings, available support, and guidance on flexible working.
• Use data to understand your organisation in aspects such as retention levels, flexible working arrangements, pay of employees after family leave and promotion of women into senior positions.
• Foster a positive and inclusive culture by acknowledging parent’s childcare responsibilities and ensuring that they are aware of available support.
• Upskill managers through training focused on supporting returning parents.
• Embed flexible work options by engaging in open discussions with returning parents to identify suitable arrangements such as short-term flexible working.
• Foster development opportunities by ensuring that training/networking events are held during core business hours and making no assumptions on new parent’s ambitions.
• Support paternity/parental leave through informing, encouraging, and promoting the uptake of such leave.
• Champion affordable childcare by educating management on childcare pressures and advocating for changes to childcare provisions from the government.

It is hoped that the flexible working changes due to come into force in Summer 2024 may help to address the issues raised in the report, but employers may want to consider all the recommendations raised. If you require assistance with your parental leave or flexible working policies or implementing any of the recommendations made in the report, please do get in touch with our employment team. 

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