How does your company support new parents?

With over 15 years of experience in the corporate world, I feel well placed to be offering a small part of the solution in supporting parents in the workplace, new parents going on parental leave and then transitioning back to work. Starting at a large global insurer at just 17 years old, I had 13 years in the workforce prior to becoming pregnant with my first baby. I certainly didn’t understand AT ALL what it meant to be a working parent in corporate Australia in the 2000s. I used to judge the people I worked with - showing up close to 9am, running out the door at 3.30 / 4pm (sorry guys). I now honestly don’t even know how they did those hours. I now admire the fact that men and women have the ability and professionalism to show up after 3 hours sleep, a dramatic day care drop off, getting the weet-bix stain off their shirt with a wet wipe on the train, often without breakfast yet themselves and rolling straight into an important meeting, pulling their thoughts together to articulate thought leadership, strategy and responses all whilst pretending their boobs aren’t leaking and they aren’t checking their phone stressed that daycare is about to call about the slightly snotty nosed 1 year old they’ve just dropped to them.

Things have come a long way; in most work environments I think the pressure has eased on turning up and acting like you don’t have children. There is more flexibility around work hours and when you need to be in the office. There are also many companies who just use the word ‘flexibility’ to attract good talent and get placed well on the work awards lists but really would just performance manage you out if you pushed them too hard on it. Partners / secondary carers are having their parental leave extended to 6 months and more in some cases, 2-4 weeks is no longer the norm. But again, in many circumstances you would be ‘harassed’ by peers and management if you did in fact take longer than 6 months off as the secondary carer. Things nice to have on paper nonetheless, moving in the right direction.

Regardless of the paid leave on offer from a company, the way we send off an employee and welcome back an employee when having a baby will entirely shape their perception of how the company is supporting them as a new parent. This doesn’t only affect outgoing and incoming parents, but also actions of support throughout pregnancy, the IVF process and if an employee experiences a miscarriage.

Some stats for those of us who like the data*...

• 49% of mothers reported experiencing discrimination in the workplace at some point during pregnancy, parental leave or on return to work. 

• 32% of all mothers who were discriminated against at some point went to look for another job or resigned.

• One in five (18%) mothers reported that they were made redundant, restructured, dismissed or their contract was not renewed either during their pregnancy, when they requested or took parental leave or when they returned to work.

• 84% of mothers who experienced discrimination reported a negative impact – including on their health, finances, career and job opportunities – as a result of that discrimination.

• Discrimination has a negative impact on women’s engagement in the workforce and their attachment to their workplace.

• Many working mothers are working 80 hour weeks, when you include unpaid work, compared with the average of 58 hours a week for a CEO.

• 85% of fathers or partners took less than 4 weeks of parental leave. 27% of those experienced discrimination during parental leave or when they returned to work.       *https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/headline-survey-results

Often competent women will quickly resign after returning to work.

Where The Whole Bowl Co. has been able to assist employers in supporting their employees:

• Gift Vouchers for employees heading on parental leave.

• When a partner returns to work after the birth, usually at the 2-3 week mark, that is often one of the hardest weeks of adjustment for a new mum or dad at home – knowing that time frame and sending a bundle of meals to assist with that transition period.

• Primary caregiver returning to work - often the baby has started childcare the same week the primary carer starts back at work, potentially weaning them off day feeds; that week is TOUGH in so many ways – helping the employee that week with meals for the family is a huge load off.

• Supporting an employee through the IVF process.

• Supporting an employee experiencing loss.

• Supporting an employee through any period of recovery.

As an employer or a colleague, offering assistance through these milestones can make all the difference. We know that people that are supported during these times are more likely to remain in organisations that are supportive, and have improved mental health and well-being.

We see support through nourishment for the family as beneficial for all employees in the workplace, and in turn, beneficial for the employer.


If our parents thrive, our families thrive, our communities thrive.