Should my organisation enhance Paternity Leave or Shared Parental Leave?

Parental Leave in 2025

Fully paid, extended maternity leave has become a cornerstone of modern workplace employee well-being policies, while, understandably, paid support for new dads, “secondary carers” and “non-birth” parents has lagged behind both in terms of the length of leave and the pay rates offered.

In the UK, the advent of Shared Parental Leave in April 2015 created some degree of momentum towards enhanced parental leave opportunities for fathers and non-birth mothers but progress towards creating improved gender equality through the mechanism of parental leave has been slow. Professional services sector have since led the way as part of talent recruitment and retention and the goal of a more equal representation of women in senior leadership roles.

In the UK, there is a debate about whether enhancing paternity leave or shared parental leave offers better outcomes for individuals, families and organisations alike.

Shared parental leave was designed to offer flexibility by allowing parents to split their leave entitlement. However, it has seen limited uptake, estimated to be around 5% eligible parents due to complex regulations and persistent societal norms around gender and the role of men and women in caregiving.   

By contrast, paternity leave - dedicated leave for fathers, has emerged as a simpler, more impactful alternative.

In this article I argue that enhanced Paternity Leave is the superior option, with Equal Parental Leave being the gold standard measure of support for new parents in any organisation.

Content

➡️ What Is the statutory framework?

➡️ Enhanced paternity leave is great.

➡️ But, equal parental leave is better.

➡️ Why enhanced paternity Leave is better than enhanced shared parental leave (SPL)

➡️ What does SPL have going for it?

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What Is the Statutory Framework?

Paternity leave and Shared Parental Leave differ significantly in structure. While shockingly, the self-employed have no rights to any paid government support.

Maternity Leave

Statutory Maternity Pay for the first 6 weeks: 90% of their average weekly earnings (AWE) before tax, the remaining 33 weeks is the lower of £172.48 or 90% of AWE.

Paternity Leave

2 weeks Statutory Paternity Pay for eligible employees is the lower of £172.48 a week or 90% of AWE earning.

Shared Parental Leave

You can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay.

The actual amount depends on how much maternity or adoption leave and pay (or Maternity Allowance) you or your partner take. Pay is at the rate of £172.48 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

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Enhanced Paternity Leave is great…

By offering dedicated enhanced paternity leave for fathers, organisations signal that parenting is a shared responsibility rather than a task solely for mothers and that they value and support fathers’ involvement in early childcare, with the associated mental health, family connection and domestic gender equality benefits that this supports.

Enhanced paternity leave challenges traditional gender roles and can help reduce the motherhood penalty—the career disadvantage women often face after having children.

Both the campaign objectives of the Fatherhood Institute and Pregnant Then Screwed focus on improving paternity leave to allow “6 weeks for Dad” - dedicated time for men to use or lose, not leave, such as SPL, that must be opted into.

https://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/post/next-steps-for-our-6-weeks-for-dads-campaign

https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/why-we-are-campaigning-for-6-weeks-paid-paternity-leave

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But, Equal Parental Leave is better!

While improving the length and pay associated with paternity leave is important, the major benefits are derived when organisations implement equal parental leave – offering the same pay and leave regardless of how you become a parent.

When coupled with a culture that expects men to take the leave on offer, equal parental leave sends a strong message about an organisation’s commitment to gender equality which can also enhance their reputation as progressive employers.

Better for equality

Equal Parental Leave is more likely to remove gender bias from the recruitment and promotion process. If your organisation cannot use gender as a way of judging who might take extended leave when they become parents, or perhaps be interested in longer term flexible or part time working arrangements, the motherhood penalty can be mitigated as judgements about presence and long term ‘commitment’ are much harder to assume and the bias against female hires is reduced.

Assumptions are everywhere as this young female colleague of my wife, Lisa, reflected to me:

“When I first met Lisa, I didn’t think she had kids, because I didn’t think a mum could do this job”

Simpler

Equal Parental leave is simpler from a legal and administrative angle. I think we’ve all heard painfully non-inclusive stories of non-birth mothers on paternity leave. Equal leave is inclusive of every type of parenthood journey, including adoption, surrogacy and single gender relationships.

Equal Parental Leave is the most common form of enhancement in the Inspiring Dads Parental Leave Database. At the time of writing, 127 out of 285 UK organisations offer equal, full pay parental leave, while 36 equalise materity and shared parental leave.

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Why enhanced Paternity Leave is better than enhanced Shared Parental Leave.

When budgets are tight, and you can only afford to enhance Paternity Leave OR Shared Parental Leave (SPL) which one should you choose (and why?)

Sharing leave sounds like a really great benefit, doesn’t it? On the face of it, it sounds better at accommodating diverse family structures, including same-sex couples, adoptive parents, and families where one parent may not be biologically related to the child. It recognises that caregiving roles are no longer bound by traditional norms, creating inclusivity.

However, SPL, is problematic for a number of reasons.

SPL introduces greater complexity - parents have to negotiate within their relationships about how to split leave, typically birth mothers need to give up some of their leave to a spouse or partner and that partner has to communicate with their workplace.

For men the process of opting in to take their partners leave is fraught with societal and workplace judgement and discrimination…

Caregiving fathers face ‘social mistreatment’- they face mockery, are viewed as idle, struggle with friendships, face negative judgement and are viewed with suspicion. The “Fatherhood Forfeit” (Kelland, 2022)

Men who wish to be actively involved in family life voicing concerns regarding being perceived as ‘wimpy and girlie’ (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005), a ‘sissy’ (Kimmel, 1994, 119) and a ‘feminine man (Locke, 2016; 199)

“Most cite fears of being discriminated against professionally, missing out on pay rises and promotions, being marginalised or even mocked as reasons for not taking time off.” BBC July 21, “Paternity leave, the hidden barriers keeping men at work.”

Combined with gender pay gap data that indicates that families are more likely to be worse off when a dad takes unpaid leave. We can start to see why, in heterosexual relationships, this often leads to mothers taking the majority of the leave, perpetuating existing inequalities, reinforcing norms and knowledge around child caring responsibilities.

In the next section I’ll talk about why Shared Parental Leave can be a good thing. But very few of the benefits can be realised due to low uptake.

Not only is uptake of SPL low, the UK government’s own research indicates a striking pattern that suggests that SPL is a perk for middle class white people.

“Parents who take up SPL and pay are more likely to be

•        older,

•        parents of white ethnicity,

•        highly qualified,

•        work in large organisations,

•        be on a higher income, and

•        have progressive gender role attitudes

•        are more likely to be married”

The Dad Shift Research

”The numbers are damning. Less than 2% of families use Shared Parental Leave - because it's too poorly paid, too complicated, and forces couples to take leave away from mums (which many are reluctant to do).

We used an FOI request to uncover that the 2% figure also contains deep inequalities. SPL pay is so low that just 100 people in the bottom 30% of earners took it last year. More SPL is claimed in London than Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the North West and the North East combined.”

Read more here.

Paternity Leave offers a clear and straightforward framework compared to the complexities and challenging societal dynamics of Shared Parental Leave.

For HR departments, managing shared parental leave can be a logistical challenge. It requires coordinating leave schedules, ensuring eligibility requirements are met, and navigating the transfer of leave entitlements between parents. These administrative hurdles often deter companies and employees from fully embracing shared parental leave.

Paternity leave, however, is simpler to implement and administer. The clear entitlement reduces confusion and ensures that fathers can take time off without extensive paperwork or negotiation.

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What does SPL have going for it?

One clear benefit of Shared Parental Leave is that it’s more likely to support dads being in sole charge of their children – gaining crucial skills and confidence while creating a newfound understanding of the second shift and mental load.

It is much harder to be on leave at the same time as your partner when you are accessing shared parental leave.

Pregnant Then Screwed have in identified staggered leave as being key to helping to close the gender pay gap.

“I believe that if the Government were to offer fathers 6 weeks paternity leave at 90% of their pay, to be taken once the mother has returned to work, this would have the biggest impact on the gender pay gap and reducing discrimination in the workplace.”

I would argue that shared parental leave is better than paternity leave at accommodating diverse family structures. The big BUT is that these same benefits are also derived from equalised parental leave, but with the societal and social challenges described above. 

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Conclusion

Given the choice between matching a maternity offer with either paternity leave or shared parental leave, it is always better to match with paternity leave and create equal parental leave within your organisation.

If, as an organisation, you actually want dads and non-birth parents to take extended parental leave you need to create Equal Parental Leave. If you don’t want people to take leave, offer equalise your leave via Shared Parental Leave.

Equalised parental leave is the gold standard in the UK.

The Inspiring Dads Parental Leave database has so far identified

⭐ The full pay offers of more than 285 UK Organisations.

⭐ 125+ Equal Parental Leave offers.

⭐ 36 more equalising via Shared Parental Leave.

⭐ 179 offering "6 weeks for dad."

By offering equalised, fully paid, parental leave, organisations can promote gender equality, enhance workplace culture, and enjoy economic and administrative advantages. As companies seek to attract and retain top talent, adopting policies that prioritise dads access to leave is not just a socially responsible choice but also a strategic business decision.

Shared parental leave, while well-meaning, has struggled to achieve its intended goals due to societal and practical barriers that discourage fathers from taking significant time off, especially time that they are not explicitly allowed to take.

Paternity leave, being simpler and more accessible, avoids these pitfalls and ensures that fathers can participate in early childcare without undue barriers.

In almost all circumstances ring fenced Paternity Leave creates much greater benefits than Shared Parental Leave by driving higher levels of uptake, fostering workplace equality, improving culture, and reducing administrative burden.

Parental Leave Database Updates

Database Updates

All numbers are weeks of fully paid leave

Update 7 - Friday 16th May ‘25

✅ Buckinghamshire New University - 18 Mat, 4 Pat, 18 SPL.

✅ Universal Music Group - 26 Mat, 26 Pat

✅ NEST pensions - 26 Mat, 26 Pat

✅ Publicis Sapient - 26 Mat, 4 Pat, 26 SPL.

✅ Starbucks - 8 plus Mat, 2 Pat  

✅ Financial Services Comp Scheme - 26 weeks equal parental leave  

✅ LGT Wealth Management - 26 weeks equal parental leave

✅ Ministry of Defence - 26 Mat, 2 Pat, 26 SPL

✅ Havas CX Helia - 26 weeks equal parental leave  

✅ Booking.com - 22 weeks equal parental leave . 

✅ UBS - 26 Mat, 4 Pat, 26 SPL.

✅ Birdie - 26 Mat, 12 Pat. 

✅ Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP - 26 plus Mat , 12 Pat.

✅ Sourceful - 12 weeks equal parental leave.  

✅ Truelayer - 26 Mat, 12 Pat.  

✅ Octopus Energy - 16 plus Mat, 12 Pat.

✅ Monzo Bank - 26 Mat, 13 Pat.

✅ Nvidia - 22 Mat, 12 Pat.  

✅ BCB Group - 17 weeks equal parental leave.  

Update 6 - Tuesday 6th May ‘25

✅ Thatcham Research - 20 Mat, 6 Pat, 6 SPL.

✅ AFRY Engineering - 16 Mat, 16 Pat.

✅ ClearBank - 26 Mat, 26 SPL.

✅ Adaptavist Group - 26 Mat, 12 Pat.  

✅ Camunda - 20 Mat, 20 Pat.  

✅ OVO Energy - 26 Mat, 4 Pat. 

✅ Motorway - 26 Mat, 4 Pat.

✅ Financial Conduct Authority - 20 Mat, 20 Pat.  

✅ Suntory Global Spirits - 26 Mat, 4 Pat.  

✅ Oliver Wyman - 26 Mat, 26 Pat.

✅ Brewers Decorator Centre - 6 plus Mat, 2 plus Pat. 

✅Herbert Smith Freehills - 24 Mat, 12 Pat, 24 SPL.

Visit https://dadshift.org.uk/ to sign their open letter for better paternity leave.

Update 5 - Wednesday 26th March ‘25

✅ 59 new High Education Institutions!

✅ Liberty Specialty Markets

✅ The Shipowners'​ Club

We also added analysis of “equivalent maternity leave.” This allows comparison between differing types of leave offer. We have combined the weeks and rate information to support a different type of benchmark. For instance, 8 weeks at full pay, followed by 12 weeks at 50% pay will show as 14 in the “Mat Equiv” column. This should allow a more nuanced comparison of offers

We now have data of 356 organisations and with your help this number is increasing regularly.

The higher education data update was only possible due the research work by Dr Clare Matysova. You can read more about the HE parental leave landscape in this blog written by Clare.

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Update 4 - thursday 6th March ‘25

✅ Bristows - 26 weeks, full pay, Equal Parental Leave.

✅ Brit Insurance - 26 weeks, full pay, Maternity and Shared Parental Leave.

✅ FNZ Group - 26 weeks, full pay, Equal Parental Leave.

✅ TG Lynes -16 weeks full pay Maternity and 2 weeks full pay Paternity leave.

✅ Irwin Mitchell - full pay 26 weeks Maternity, 4 weeks Paternity and 26 weeks Shared Parental Leave.

✅ Selco Builders Merchants, 16 weeks full pay maternity and 2 weeks full pay paternity leave.

✅ Premier Foods - 22 weeks, full pay maternity and 6 weeks full pay paternity

✅ Airbus - full pay - 26 weeks Maternity, 2 weeks Paternity and 12 weeks Shared Parental Leave.

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Update 3 - Weds 15th November ‘24

✅ Zoopla - new entry - Maternity = six months of full pay, three months of half pay as well as eight weeks of full pay and four weeks of half pay for fathers.

✅ Brodies LLP - new entry - Maternity, 26 weeks full pay. Paternity 4 weeks full pay after 1 years service and 2 weeks full pay for under 1 years service.

✅ AIG Insurance - new entry - Maternity, 13 weeks full pay and 13 weeks half. Paternity, 2 weeks full pay, Shared Parental – up to 13 full pay.

✅ Eagley School House Nursery Ltd - new entry - equal pay and leave.

✅ Remote (Payroll Software) - new entry - day 1 eligbility for 16 weeks equal fully paid leave during first year of parenthood.

✅ Juro (Contract Management Software) - new entry - primary caregivers, 16 weeks at full pay + 12 weeks at 50% pay, secondary caregivers, 8 weeks at full pay.

✅ Human Made (Enterprise Wordpress Agency) - new entry - maternity leave 12 weeks+ full pay, paternity leave, 6 weeks full pay.

✅ Contentful (Content Management Systems) - new entry - 4 months equal full pay.

✅ Bumble (Software development) - new entry - 26 weeks paid leave for the primary caregiver. “The secondary caregiver will also receive 26 weeks paid leave after 1 year of employment.”

✅ Nestle - new entry - 18 weeks for primary caregivers and four weeks for secondary caregivers.

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Update 2 - Weds 23rd October ‘24

✅ Canada Life - 26 weeks of paid maternity leave or 16 weeks of paid paternity leave.

✅ Circus PPC - 26 weeks, full pay, equal leave.

✅ Department of Education - 28 weeks full pay Maternity, Adoption and SPL + 3 weeks Paternity.

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Update 1 - Weds 9th October ‘24

✅ Deloitte - new improved policy - 26 weeks, full pay, equal leave.

✅ Haleon - new entry - 26 weeks, full pay, equal leave.

✅ Browne Jacobson - new entry - equalised leave: 13 weeks full pay + 13 weeks at 50%.

✅ Herbert Smith - new entry - co-parent leave has been increased to 12 weeks at full pay.

✅ Bank of London and Middle East - new entry - substantial increase in maternity leave policies.

✅ RWE - new entry - 29 weeks full pay for maternity and adoption.  Paternity leave is 12 weeks full pay.  If shared parental leave is taken - full pay up to week 29 after the baby’s birth.

Parental Leave Database Tips and Tricks

Our Parental Leave Database has a number of useful benchmarking tools:

• Search for an organisation - use the magnifying glass icon in the top right of the database.

• Sort by best maternity, paternity or shared parental leave offer - click ‘Sort‘ and choose a column.

  • To refine your sort, use ‘+ add another sort.’

• Compare by industry sector - click ‘Group’ and choose ‘Industry’ option.

• Compare by UK employee size - click ‘Group’ and choose ‘UK Size’ option.

  ✅We recommend using the “Collapse all” function to quickly access your industry or employee size.

• Compare by industry sector and UK employee size - click ‘Group’ and choose ‘Industry‘ or ‘UK Size’ as your priority view.

  • Use ‘+ add subgroup’ function to display the secondary group.

• Scroll right to access pay notes, eligibility notes and validation via source material (where available.)

SEARCH

SORT

GROUP BY EQUAL LEAVE

GROUP BY INDUSTRY SECTOR

GROUP BY EMPLOYEE SIZE

ALL FEATURES PLUS:

> GROUP BY INDUSTRY SECTOR AND EMPLOYEE SIZE

> ELIGIBILITY

> SOURCE MATERIAL

Photo credit AbsolutVision @alterego_swiss via Unsplash

More Database Blog Posts

What is the Business Case for Enhanced Parental Leave?

What Is the Business Case for Enhanced Parental leave?

This is article we explore these 3 key areas:

✅ Improves Employee Retention and Recruitment.

✅ Boosts Productivity and Engagement

✅ Supports Gender Equality Goals.

Why Is Enhanced Parental Leave More Important Than Ever?

In this post I’ll be examining how enhanced parental leave policies benefit UK businesses from an economic and cultural standpoint. But, before we get into the details of benefits for companies, let’s first explore what we mean by ‘Enhanced Parental Leave’ and then look at the big picture benefits for societies and families.

a) What is ‘Enhanced Parental Leave.’

The statutory requirements in the UK are very modest, amongst the worst in Europe…

Maternity Leave

“Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for eligible employees can be paid for up to 39 weeks, usually as follows:

• the first 6 weeks: 90% of their average weekly earnings (AWE) before tax

• the remaining 33 weeks: £184.03 or 90% of their AWE (whichever is lower)”

https://www.gov.uk/employers-maternity-pay-leave

Paternity leave

“Employees can choose to take either 1 week or 2 consecutive weeks’ leave…

Statutory Paternity Pay for eligible employees is either £184.03 a week or 90% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). Tax and National Insurance need to be deducted.”

https://www.gov.uk/employers-paternity-pay-leave

Shared Parental Leave

In 2015, the UK introduced a shared parental leave policy allowing eligible parents to split up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay between them. This pay is at the statutory rates describes above.

The answer in literal terms: Enhanced Parental Leave could be anything above these Statutory levels.

1 week at 50% of pay would, for many men, be an enhancement to their current pay.

Not all enhanced leave is equal

The Inspiring Dads’ Parental Leave Database highlights organisations with:

• Equal Leave - the same leave regardless of how you become a parent.

• Equal Via SPL – where the shared parental leave pay and length of time matches maternity leave time and pay.

• 6 weeks for Dad – leave that matches an organisation’s paternity leave with the statutory maternity provision.

b) The Macro-economic benefits

A Pregnant Then Screwed and Centre for Progressive Policy report in 2023  found that countries with more than six weeks of paid paternity leave have a 4% smaller gender wage gap and 3.7% smaller labour force participation gap. Their analysis also suggested that closing gender employment gaps could increase economic output by £23 billion.

In findings of a similar vein, the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2022 found that 80% of the gender pay gap was driven by Maternity leave. Leave is important for the well being of mothers and babies alike, but inequalities in the length of leave can entrench societal norms, reducing choice and the fuelling the gender pay gap.

c) Societal shift

The Pregnant Then Screwed and Centre for Progressive Policy report also found that just 18% of Brits think 2 weeks paternity leave or less is enough, but one in five (22%) dads and partners that are eligible for paternity leave take no leave at all.

Why would dads not be taking leave? When, according to the research from Zurich of 1,000 new dads, three quarters said they’d like to take up to 12 weeks off work at this time?

d) Because paternity leave doesn’t pay

Crucially it’s about finances.

As Tom Cruise’s character once said – “Show me the money!”

The Fatherhood Institute asked “What price for time with dad?” and calculated that a full-time employed father in the UK, on average earnings, can lose £1,021.04 when they take two weeks of statutory paternity leave.

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The Business Case

1) Improves Employee Retention and Recruitment 

• Research by Working Families and Bright Horizons shows that 48% of UK parents who have access to enhanced parental leave report higher job satisfaction and engagement, contributing to better long-term employee performance.

• Bright Horizons found that 80% of UK employees feel more committed to their employer if they have access to flexible family-friendly policies, including enhanced parental leave.

• In this article, Flexa look at why parental leave so important, and how does it benefit both employees and businesses?

  “Enhanced parental leave policies contribute to higher employee retention rates and create loyalty among employees. When companies provide ample time off for new parents, it shows that they value their employees' well-being and support their life outside of work. This can lead to increased job satisfaction and a stronger commitment to the company”.

• Meanwhile Zurich talked to dads and discovered that:

“when looking for a new role, 43% of new dads look for paid paternity leave above bonus (42%) and salary (27%)”, which isn’t surprising when the same data showed that “of those that take no time at all, seven out of 10 can’t afford to”, while “a third of new dads were forced to take holiday while 12% resorted to unpaid leave in order to spend time with their new babies.”

2) Boosts Productivity and Engagement

Lisa S. Kaplowitz and Kate Mangino

• The CIPD found that companies offering enhanced parental leave see improved mental health and well-being among returning employees, leading to higher productivity and lower absenteeism.

• Further nuggets from the Pregnant Then Screwed and Centre for Progressive Policy report:

  “We find that a woman’s partner taking parental leave is associated with a 34% increase in the likelihood of a woman being physically able to return to work”

• Lisa S. Kaplowitz and Kate Mangino, researching at Rutgers University identified a wide range of workplace skills that are developed through the process of care giving. Find out more in the HBR article “Caregiver Employees Bring Unique Value to Companies”

3) Supports Gender Equality Goals

• The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading membership charity campaign for gender equality and women’s rights at work, at home and in public life is seeking government to introduce a dedicated period of leave for fathers “paid closer to replacement earnings rate. Current shared parental leave legislation is welcome, but too few fathers will be able to take it.”

• PWC’s Women in Work 2023 Report highlighted that:

  “In 2021, the OECD found the motherhood penalty accounted for 60% of the gender pay gap across 25 European countries, with factors… In Northern and Western European countries, the motherhood penalty accounted for 75% of the gender pay gap.”

• Research by McKinsey (2020) showed that companies with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, including robust parental leave policies, are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability, driven by diverse leadership teams that enhance innovation and decision-making.

Bonus reason - Reputational Kudos.

Man on LinkedIn posts sleep deprived picture with his baby. He thanks his employer for the opportunity to take 3 months leave. The comments blow up, the organic reach is astronomical. I notice and the employer makes it the database

In Conclusion

Creating opportunities for your new parents to access well paid extended parental leave, regardless of how they become parents is being increasingly seen as a core part of the employee benefit offer.

As at 9th May 2025, The Inspiring Dads’ Parental Leave Database captures over 370 UK organisations

👏 134 Equal Parental Leave offers.

👏 a further 85 organisations equalising via Shared Parental Leave.

👏 192 organisations in the UK who offer 6 weeks full pay for dads (ringfenced, not hidden within Shared Parental Leave)

The reason those numbers are rising every month is laid out in the evidence above - enhanced and equal parental leave positively impact employee retention, productivity, diversity, and long-term business growth in the UK. Crucially a fairer, better society has to include equality at choice around caring responsibilities. It’s the route to gender equality.  

Campaign to Make Things Better:

PS If you think that Men don’t Want to Take Leave?

Stats around the low update of shared parental leave paint a picture that could easily be misinterpreted but when organisations get the culture and pay ‘right’ and remove the issue of transferring leave men will take the leave they are entitled to.

• Two thirds of new dads at Zurich UK took their full 80 days paternity leave in 2023.

• 80% of men Aviva have taken at least five months out of work when a new child arrives, and 79% of men have taken over five months for subsequent births

Extra Resources

If you are considering introducing an Equal Parental Leave policy, here is a brilliant guide from Business In The Community which explores costs, benefits and tips for successful implementation. Plus see measurement tips and tricks from Careers After Babies.

Photo Credit Vitolda Klein @little_klein via Unsplash

More Parental Leave posts

The business case evidence for parental leave - massive PR wins.

How Parental Leave can be the ultimate PR opportunity.

It's been a busy week in my part of SE London, not least because we managed to get our Party Wall award sorted out before the builders ran out of things to do / smash inside the house. 'Excitingly' (as anyone I've spoken to this week will know lol) we discovered that the base of the foundations on one side of our house are 3m down - creating a literal money pit to pour concrete into! Fortuntately it's the other side from the party wall stuff - the joys of living on a hill!

Building delights aside it's been a really interesting week for Parental Leave announcements (if you are into that sort of thing, which I am.)

Like all good Marvel films, there's a couple of PS footnotes that I hope you'll stay for!

Let's dive into the detail of the offers from Marks and Spencer, Severn Trent Water and Molson Coors. Three very different offers - one is gold standard and at the other end of the scale - looking at my database it's the biggest gap between Paternity and Maternity Leave provision in the UK....

Marks and Spencer are first up.

Click here to join the conversation

"As of 1 April, Marks and Spencer will introduce six weeks of paternity leave at full pay and double its maternity and adoption leave to 26 weeks at full pay, equating to a £5 million investment."

Of course I'm greedy, I want 26 weeks full pay parental leave - treating all parents the same, regardless of how they become parents. But, that said, kudos to M&S for making changes in the right direction - every little helps as they say in some retail circles.

Positive that they describe it as an investment!

Severn Trent then lowered the tone a bit...

Click here to join the conversation

"We're super proud that we've made a big boost to our maternity and adoption leave, giving colleagues a whole year off fully paid, providing one of the leading maternity and adoption policies in the industry, FTSE 100 and UK."

So far so good...

In fact amazing, if you are taking Maternity or Adoption Leave at Severn Trent - They are offering an astounding 46 weeks full pay Maternity and Adoption leave.

But, when the direction of travel is companies equalising parental leave, I’m afraid Severn Trent have inadvertently created what I think it the most unequal parental leave policy in the country, because drumroll...

2 weeks full pay Paternity.

That's it. It's better than 2 week statutory but it's a bad bad thing for gender equality.

At Severn Trent Mums and Adopters take leave, most Dads won't be. I don't know what their Shared Parental Leave offer is but given they don't mention it in the article I'm not expecting much.

More to do for Dads at Severn Trent and I'll watching out for more news

Then boom... welcome to the party, Molson Coors...

Molson Coors

Click here to join the conversation

"Molson Coors Beverage Company has introduced an equal parental leave policy for its more than 2,200 employees across the UK. All new parents at the brewer of beer brands such as Carling, Coors and Madrí Excepcional will be entitled to up to 52 weeks’ leave regardless of gender or their path to parenthood, 26 weeks of which are fully paid."

Make no mistake this is gold standard.

There are approximately 80 companies offering equal parental leave - about 50 of them are offering 26 weeks plus - which gets you entry to this important club.

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Well paid, extended parental leave, really really matters for gender equality - as is so perfectly illustrated but this comment I saw this week

"... women work part time because taking long periods of parental leave and acting as the primary caregiver, means that their partners go on to win leadership roles and increased salaries."

Unequal parental leave within families AND business is a killer for gender equality at home and work.

Equalised parental leave is a vital foundation for parenting choice, creating equality at home and reframing our gendered associations about care giving. Equality at work is driven by equality at home, knowing my audience you know that's true too.

Happy Friday!

Ian

PS

If your business has great policies but a cultural challenge when it comes to Men taking up the opportunity, then can drop me message, like this firm did this week:

Q. "We've recently switched to a gender neutral parental leave, do you run any in-person/virtual one hour sessions for corporates? We want to encourage as many of our male colleagues to take their full parental leave."

A. This one might be exactly what you need "The Benefits of Extended Parental leave for Fathers and Families."

PPS

I mentioned the PR opportunity. I'm just the messenger and this is what the M&S post stats look like....

Marks and Spencer Post Analytics

Unsplash image by Kelly Sikkema @kellysikkema@kellysikkema

Paternity leave in finance: ‘The more men do it, the less of a big deal it becomes’

Paternity leave in finance: ‘The more men do it, the less of a big deal it becomes’

Make no mistake, it's a pleasure to talk all things Dads and contributing to Emma Jacobs's piece in the Financial Times was no exception.

It's a fascinating read, that uses the words of dads in financial services and law to illustrate both the positive and negative experiences of accessing extended leave and the disconnect that can exist between policy and culture, especially the gatekeeping experience that ‘Adam’ was subjected to.

The world is changing fast, and organisations can’t just rely on ‘dinosaurs’ dying out to get a grip on organisation culture. Gender equality initiatives that focus largely or solely on mother’s experiences and challenges are likely to merely reinforce societal and workplace assumptions about the role of working mums and working dads alike.

As a female, former colleague of my wife once said:

“When I first met Lisa, I didn’t think she had children, because I didn’t think a mum could do this job.”

It’s only when we see that men are as equally likely to seek out and access extended leave as women, that society, the workplace, and families will make meaningful progress towards equality both at home and in the workplace.

The evidence that Emma lays out from businesses with great parental leave policies and a joined-up culture is that men will absolutely take the leave they are offered and that “can make them more committed to an equal workforce.”

But never underestimate the line manager effect, it’s striking how many of the men Emma interviewed cited the support of their managers, matching my own coaching experience and how Adam’s negative experience was framed as being unmanly and that looking after children was his wife’s ‘job’.

My contributions

Ian Dinwiddy, a coach and founder of Inspiring Dads which supports fathers in the workplace, observes a domino effect, as more companies overcome worries about “cost [and having] to cover the leave”, forcing others to compete.

Dinwiddy says ringfenced leave — which is not shared between a couple — encourages fathers to take it. “Because [shared leave] is a choice — men have to opt in and that comes with fear of being seen as uncommitted.” There is also safety in numbers, he says. “If men think other men are going to take it, they will too.”

Further Reading

BBC July 21, “Paternity leave, the hidden barriers keeping men at work.”

“Most cite fears of being discriminated against professionally, missing out on pay rises and promotions, being marginalised or even mocked as reasons for not taking time off.”

The Behavioural Insights Team working with Santander UK found that

‘Simply telling men that their peers support parental leave and flexible working, increases their intention to share care.’ ‘Men thought that roughly 65% of their peers would encourage male colleagues to work flexibly, while in reality 99% would do so.’

Sharing this positive news changed attitudes, defeating the myth that men don’t support each other’s desire to be active and involved fathers.

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