HELPING STRESSED DADS BALANCE WORK AND FATHERHOOD
Parental Leave Database Updates
Read on to discover which organisations are joining the Database.
Photo credit - Dad Shift UK
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Does Fatherhood Deserve To Be Put On A Pedestal?
Does Fatherhood Deserve To Be Put On A Pedestal?
It’s an intriguing question raised by this Tweet from The Feminist Barrister
“Men who do half of the household chores, take care of the baby, pay their way, do emotional labour, are not special, they don't deserve a pat on the back, it should be normal.”
She has a point, in a world of gender inequalities at home and at work, the idea of eulogising dads for doing the very same things that, at best, pass as unnoticed when mums do them, can feel perverse, if not downright disrespectful.
But the word that caught my eye was ‘SHOULD’.
I totally agreed. It SHOULD be normal, but I think there’s a lot of merit in exploring why it might not be ‘normal’ and what we can do to normalise the type of active and involved fatherhood that everyone benefits from.
I’ll come right out with it; I think we do need to put fatherhood on a ‘pedestal’ - at least under some circumstances.
In my line of work, I’m always thinking of ways to help my dads’ work out how to balance work and fatherhood, to solve the challenge of “How to be a great dad, without sacrificing a great career,” and, crucially to recognise and address the barriers that stop dads being “the father they don’t remember growing up.”
I created a poll on LinkedIn and asked
How should society treat involved, equal fathers?
You can join the conversation here.
My options were
1. Celebrate Them
2. Ignore Them
3. It’s Complicated
There were a couple of great builds from Katie “Normalise It” and Elliot “Support Them.”
Frustration
Alison expressed her frustration at the unequal nature of expectations:
“Do we celebrate women today who do all this and more? It should just be normal to share chores, take part in family life and more. We can show our appreciation individually. It just reminds me when my husband does something we all have to be in awe when I seem to do that stuff day in day out 😂 no celebration. No badges of honor.”
While Emma echoed the sense of disrespecting women by celebrating men.
“ 'celebrate' them seems a little insulting to the women who do this day in day out and don't get it recognised let alone celebrated. But yes, definitely support them is the right way to approach this, so it becomes normal for all.”
Normalising
Normalising was also important to Lizzie who talked about positively reinforcing the behaviour we want to see. While Venise talked wrote about “normalizing normal, until it IS "normal”
Social Expectations
Sean picked out the importance of social and family barriers, as well as the importance of encouraging pioneers who want to change how society has told them they should be.
In my mind, this is the crucial part…
With the ONS reporting in July 22 that 83.9% of men are working full time v 38.4% of women, we can’t divorce what men do domestically, from what they are ‘expected’ or perceived to be expected to do 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.”
Paternity leave, the hidden barriers keeping men at work.
And this cuts both ways…
“When I first met Lisa, I didn’t think she had kids, because I didn’t think a mum could do this job”
Gender Judgement
And spills over into judgement about men who don’t work. As Laura talks about her husband
"I've lost count of the comments he gets about the fact he is not undertaking paid work while he cares for the children. He is also sadly still one of the only men at many parent events and has been since the kids were babies at play groups."
Unhelpful judgements are everywhere
· Mums ‘damaging’ their children if they are in nursery too early or for too long.
· But ‘damaging’ them if they don’t have the social exposure to childcare settings.
· Talking about nursery fees in the context of mum’s income rather than family income.
· ‘Lazy’ SAHD dads who aren’t providing and get treated with suspicion.
The truth is that society’s bar for ‘good’ fatherhood is set too low and too narrow to the detriment of too many, while I think the opposite is true for motherhood.
What is normal?
“Men who do half of the household chores… it should be normal”
Frances Cushway and I explore the complexity what ‘normal’ looks like for individuals and relationships in our webinar
“The Home Contract – Managing Second Shift and Mental Load Challenges”
When we think about household chores, it is often through the prism of second shift activities and in that regard, research suggests that in heterosexual relationships, doing half isn’t normal and it also depends on what the task is.
Doing half is much more than the second shift, we also need to consider the mental load, the hidden, often unseen, emotional and cognitive labour.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/26/gender-wars-household-chores-comic
Building Pedestals at work
In a world dominated by damaging gender expectations, 2 weeks of statutory paternity leave (and nothing for the self-employed) and the fear of being seen as uncommitted at work, we absolutely do need to put fatherhood on a pedestal and celebrate and support dads who seek to normalise the domestic equality that we need in society.
No, I don’t think we should be handing out participation medals at home, but in the workplace celebrating fatherhood really matters if we are to reframe the conversation about parenting and ‘commitment’ and improve gender equality in the workplace.
Workplaces need to use policies such as equalised parental leave as an enabler to drive culture change. To encourage and support dads to take extended leave, to work flexibly or part time and to build the skills, experience and empathy that solo parenting inevitably brings.
When fear, circumstances or expectation prevent dads from seeking out extended parental leave or flexible working it reinforces the idea that caring responsibilities are only for women and frequently we end up with domestic inequalities that manifest themselves as a two-speed race at work where some runners face very different hurdles to success.
Conclusion.
Let’s go back to the premise - does fatherhood deserve to be put on a pedestal?
My view, absolutely at work. #Equalitystartsathome, but the foundation for that equality is built by the culture in the workplace.
When we celebrate active and involved fatherhood at work and support new dads through maternity and beyond, we break the reality and perception of a two-speed system and start to remove the fatherhood fear that so that so many dads worry about.
"Simply telling men that their peers support parental leave and flexible working, increases their intention to share care."
Your next steps…
Contact me to discover our range of webinars and workshops or to talk about coaching support for new dads.
Join my next free webinar "Why Supporting New Dads At Work Is the Route to Gender Equality", on Tuesday 24th January
PS Why not connect and follow some of those, whose wisdom and insight, I have tapped into here.
Elliott Rae Laura McCambridge Lizzie Martin PCC Alison Main Emma Banister Sean Coffin Frances Cushway Katie Tucker K. Venise Vinegar Dorothy Dalton Daniel Bailey (Assoc CIPD)
Role modelling matters for working dads in so many ways
What dads do and role model at home is of vital significance to the chances of their daughter’s career success and to the health of their son’s future relationships.
Role modelling matters for working dads in so many ways
“I saw a comment on Facebook recently, it was a mum talking about the importance of career role modelling for her daughter, showing her a future where she could smash the glass ceiling, to be anything she wanted to be.
It got me thinking. We don’t use the same language when we talk about dads. Yes, we describe the benefits of dads being great role models for healthy masculinity for their sons, but I’m not sure we ever say the same about role modelling for daughters?”
I cover two key areas that all dads should be thinking about:
Five reasons why equality at home should matter to you.
and
What can you do to support equality at home?
Photo Credit: Adobe stock via workingdads.co.uk
Brian Ballantyne - why men and inclusion matters
What it means to be good ally? How Brian’s own family were a prompt to volunteer in diversity and inclusion voluntary work and why men must be involved if we aren’t just creating inclusion echo chambers.
Brian Ballantyne - why men and inclusion matters.
Brian Ballantyne, Co-Founder of Men for Inclusion, author of “Confessions of a Working Dad” and one time Babycenter moderator joins James and Ian in Episode 37 of Lockdown Dads.
It’s an open and honest discussion in which we discuss what it means to be good ally, how Brian’s own family were a prompt to volunteer in diversity and inclusion voluntary work and why men must be involved if we aren’t just creating inclusion echo chambers.
Plus “Centrist Dads”, burnout and recharging batteries and how to argue well.
Contents
01:00 A tough week for Brian - lessons in boundaries, batteries and burnout
04:30 Balancing family and personal priorities
06:00 Ian has been shooting video content +
07:00 Social media and men’s attitudes to women’s personal safety
08:00 Ian forgets about James
09:30 James reflects on a bad week for gender equality
11:30 Being a Babycenter moderator
12:45 Dad culture - the time when Brian’s CEO stalked him on Foursquare
14:30 Family influence on diversity and inclusion work.
15:10 Women in Technology echo chambers
17:00 How Male Allies for Gender Equality became Men for Inclusion
19:45 We discuss what allyship means
Tips
23:10
James has been reading Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together
Q. What is a Centrist Dad”
Ian recommends previous guest, Rachel Vecht’s quick video on how to extract information from your school age children!
Brian talks about cherishing the small moments
————————————-
Connect with Brian
https://www.linkedin.com/company/menforinclusion/
https://www.e2w.co/men-for-inclusion
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-ballantyne-336754/
Photo Credit @hannahbusing via Unsplash
Why supporting new dads in the workplace is key to gender equality
The cultural norms around work are changing at a rapid rate thanks to the pandemic, but we must not allow it to widen the gender gap at work. Dads are key
Written for HR Zone
Why supporting new dads in the workplace is key to gender equality
The cultural norms around work are changing at a rapid rate thanks to the pandemic, but we must not allow it to widen the gender gap at work. A key part of this is creating the right conditions for working dads to take on their share of the caring responsibilities.
Writing for HR Zone I explored three key themes:
1. Stressed dads seek new ways of working
2. Dads fear being seen as 'uncommitted'
3. Equality starts at home
“Gender equality took a big hit in 2020. At the start of the pandemic, the government suspended enforcement of gender pay gap reporting. Domestically, women took on more unpaid labour and despite evidence that the first Covid-19 lockdown led to a 58% increase in childcare undertaken by men, the equality gap widened and more recently those gains appear to have rolled back. Facebook groups such as The Career Mum are full of stories from working mums taking on a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic labour, whether it’s childcare, home school support or the mental load.”
Connect with me on LinkedIn and join the debate
Flexible working is 'Just as important to men'
Please can we stop framing flexible working as a female "thing." It’s "just as important" for men.
Flexible Working is ‘just as important to men’
An article on the business part of the BBC website caught my eye…
"Senior jobs with flexible hours 'get 20% more female applicants"
First thought, awesome.
Second thought, I wonder if there’s anything about men? Because I know men want flexible working too.
Hidden away (a bit too much for my liking) was reference to men - “just as important for men”
Argggh, come on BBC I thought! This is a really important angle - the angle that would make a world of difference to gender equality to the workplace.
So I opened Linkedin and penned this 1300 character post that has got a lot of comments, interaction and views. Click here to join in the conversation.
POLITE REQUEST
Please can we stop framing flexible working as a female "thing". The world and his dog knows that women have more caring responsibilities, but until we talk about it being a man thing too, we are doomed to pigeon hole genders into cages called caring and breadwinning.
These cages are traps - traps that keep women from achieving their potential in the workplace and men from being the active and involved fathers they don't remember growing up.
We need to release that canary.
BBC Business News article today "Senior jobs with flexible hours 'get 20% more female applicants"
My first thought, well yeah, obviously.
Knowing how hard men find it to ask for flex and part time work - society deem them not to "need" it, fear of being seen as "uncommitted", perceived optionality etc I wondered if there was anything about men.
Yes - the real story -'Just as important to men'
"The study... found many more men also applied for roles when they offered flexible working options, suggesting the issue was "just as important" for them."
This the truly groundbreaking stuff - pre covid!
Men want flexible working and enabling that desire is a key aspect of gender equality at home and at work.#flexforall #inspiringdads #workingdads
New title, same story?
The eagle eyed among you will have notice the article title is now different. I was also intrigued that the title of the piece changed twice… from
"Senior jobs with flexible hours 'get 20% more female applicants" to
“Flexible working helps with mum guilt' to
“It’s really hard to progress when working part-time”
Thankfully the BBC dropped the “mum guilt” angle quickly <facepalm>
A great story of increased female recruitment into Senior roles
Now despite my little rant, it’s worth noting that it’s a really good story about Zurich creatively increasing female recuitment into senior roles. As John Adams at DadBlogUk explains
“For Zurich to have increased female recruit in senior roles is brilliant. To have increased the number of women working flexibly in senior roles is better still. To have male and female senior managers working flexibly and encouraging other staff to do the same, that’s Zurich’s real success. I hope other employers will follow suit.”
I just wish the man angle had been explored in greater (any) depth.
and I’m not alone as the 100+ comments illustrate
“Totally agree and I thought the same thing when I read the article this morning. The policy is gender neutral so why can't our thinking be the same?”
“Such an important narrative. I also feel until men are encouraged to take flex working and shared parental leave, women will never truly be able to move forward from this feeling of asking for special treatment, feeling conflicted and that their careers may suffer if they move to flex etc. Flex for all is the only way to truly achieve a sense of equality.”
“Totally agree. From my experience coaching men in organisations, it’s much more difficult for them to ask for flexible working than it is for women. And understandably as they’re more likely to be judged as no longer engaged in their careers. Headlines like this do not help.”
Of course we aren’t JUST talking about flexible working for caring reasons. There are lots of reasons why people want flexible working patterns and all are important. I’m very keen on the idea of #Flexforall.
What did Zurich do?
In addition to using gender neutral language, each job advert between March 2019 and Feb 2020 stated the roles were available as:
“Part-time, flexible hours, job share.”
The outcome
“Since changing its policy on job adverts, the number of women hired for top roles has risen by 33%”
“20% more likely to apply for senior roles if they offer flexible hours.”
In conclusion, great story - but let’s also keep telling all the stories, in particular the one that shines a light on what men want and stops flexible working from being seen a female only desire. Because that doesn’t help anyone!
Click the button to join the conversation on LinkedIn
Photo Credit: Eric Ayon via Unsplash @ericayon10
Equality begins at home, but it also begins at school...
True equality comes when we treat dads as equal parents.
Imagine a situation when a primary school needs to contact a parent. A staff member opens the contact management system, searches for the child and is presented with two contact names (in order of priority)
1) the dad
2) the mum
The obvious thing to do is to phone the 1st contact.
Afterall they are listed first.
Too obvious it seems.
Today instead of calling the dad (aka me), the member of staff called the mum (aka my wife).
It wasn't a mistake, it was a choice and a choice that I've seen before and today, like the last time, I later asked for clarity as to why I wasn't called - was there some sort of error in the listing on my daughter's file?
Nope, no error.
I explained that it was important that the school called me first, there’s a reason I’m listed first!
Naturally, I got an apology, they got a gentle reminder about equality.
Turns out I’m not alone in experiencing this type of casual discrimination against dads…
“Yep, I had the school apologise for not having mum's phone number (there isn't one) and calling me.”
“We had the same experience with the Doctors last week. My husband had taken on getting repeat asthma meds for my daughter and the call back came to me despite him leaving his number.”
“Yes, that used to happen to me too. Hubby full time stay at home dad, me full time at work. And they always called me to be asked “have you called my husband?” Stereotypes so embedded.”
My husband took our son for his 8 week jabs as it was my birthday and I had gone for a spa day with a friend.... the nurse asked him where mum was as he walked in the door, then called me to gain consent to immunise our son 🙄 Yes - a complaint went in!
One thing is certain, gender equality is as much about Dads and fatherhood being taken seriously as it is about leaning in and well-paid maternity leave.
If you want someone to speak at your event and explain why supporting dads at work is a route to gender equality then drop me a message.
Picture Credit:Tim Mossholder via Unsplash @timmossholder
Lockdown, from burn out to muddling through
I’ve written a piece for Parental Choice about my personal story of lockdown.
Lockdown, From Burn out to Muddling through
I’ve written a piece for Parental Choice about my personal story of lockdown. It’s a tale of practical prep - aka buying better internet and a new freezer and what happens when your kids choose movie night film - Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 anyone? thought not!
I discuss these topic areas:
Practical steps to cope with lockdown
Boundaries
Then the wheels came off
Keeping it simple
Making lockdown work
It’s true, it all got too much at times…
“That Saturday and Sunday rota lasted about 4 weeks until I had a massive wobble and realised I was getting burnt out. I was sat on the sofa at 6.15 in the morning unable to make any sense of what I should be doing. I reached for my underused but important fall back - the journal and wrote down how I felt and what I needed to do.”
But the future can be a brighter world:
“Embedding the benefits of more involved dads will take great effort in an uncertain economy, with childcare and school provision under threat. But if couples intentionally design their lives to ensure the domestic and working load is spread evenly, then society has a great chance to use lockdown as opportunity to create greater equality at home and in the workplace for years to come.”
Read the article here:
https://www.parentalchoice.co.uk/blogs/lockdown-from-burn-out-to-muddling-through/
Sharing the Load - Gender balance at home
Gender Balance isn’t a workplace issue. I joined Dorothy Dalton from 3 Plus International to discuss how to achieve equality at home.
Sharing the load - Gender Balance at home (Guest Podcast)
Gender balance is not just a workplace issue
“A common thread of lock down discussions has been women absorbing a higher proportion of childcare and home-schooling responsibilities than their partners. This has led to increased levels of burnout, stress, anxiety and the ubiquitous COVID19 brain, which has been covered in acres of media coverage.
Gender balance is not just a workplace issue it’s a relationship and domestic issue and both men and women are trapped by limiting gender stereotypes and expectations.”
I joined Dorothy Dalton the CEO of 3 Plus International to discuss how gender equality at work is tied to equality at home. Drawing upon my own experience as stay at home dad and a coach we covered a wide range of topics including
perfectionism - it's OK to make mistakes and learn from them
letting go the need for control - nothing bad will happen
applying workplace project management principles to the home, identifying tasks, creating job descriptions and schedules
maintaining intimacy and constructive communication
overcoming boundary issues
men being a permanent part of the solution rather than being allowed to opt in (helping) or usually opting out
creating goals and vision as a couple or even a family
Click Below to find out more
http://3plusinternational.com/2020/08/sharing-the-load-and-keeping-the-peace/
Dads and the new reality
The benefits and challenges to working dads of the post lockdown world
Dads and the New Reality
Photo Credit: Ayo Ogunseind via Unsplash @armedshutter
I’ve said it before, it’s an awful time.
“Lockdown”, “Furlough”, “Self Isolation”
Relationships are under pressure like never before - stress, worry and physical confinement are a heady cocktail of ingredients for relationship trauma.
But, it WILL get better and dads will have a massive opportunity.
Dads do more At Home
With so many dads spending a lot more time at home, physically away from the regular work environment, we're in the midst of a massive upheaval and redefinition of who does what around the home.
and this includes parenting...
An Institute for Fiscal Studies report this week included this evidence
During lockdown fathers have nearly doubled the time they spend on childcare. On average, fathers are now doing some childcare during 8 hours of the day, compared with 4 hours in 2014/15.
This increase is especially large for the 15% of fathers in previously dual-earner households who have lost their job while their partner continues to do paid work. This large increase in fathers’ involvement in childcare might have long-lasting impacts on how couples share childcare responsibilities.
seeing the benefits
Photo Credit: Edward Cisneros via Unsplash @everythingcaptured
“My job has never allowed me so much free time. Being forced to work from home, I have been able to spent precious time with my little girl who is 5 months old.”
“Loved being able to WFH full time... we have a six month old now so I get to see him during the day a bit, feed him lunch, always have bath time at 5.30pm... it’s been a positive in an otherwise pretty weird / horrid time.”
The assumptions that remote working can’t work have been massively undermined, a client told me this week that the main blocker to remote working in his business has had a complete U-turn since the the pandemic started.
the start of a brave new world?
This can be the opportunity for men to fix their work life balance once and for all and to be the hands on, active and involved fathers many don’t remember growing up.
If the virus has taught us one thing, it’s that many people don’t HAVE to be in the office to do their jobs. Technology and a can do attitude are powerful tools to create a new way of working.
The Challenge of returning to the workplace
It’s tricky from many angles - health and safety, social distancing in the office and on the commute and a lack of childcare options.
Here are my 3 quick tips for businesses with working dads.
Childcare Assumptions
Don’t tell men to return to the workplace without considering they might also have childcare responsibilities. It’s discriminatory and lazy.
Don’t leave women on furlough because you assume they are responsible for childcare. It’s discriminatory and lazy.
Fear
Understand that now, more than, ever men face the fear of losing their jobs if they don’t follow instructions of their business.
This fear will trump any desire to maintain the benefits of working from home.
Conflict
With childcare and schooling options still limited, the pressure on parents to share the load and balance domestic responsibilities is still at an all time high.
Forcing working dads to return to the workplace will create domestic conflict
Longer term
1) Give men well paid parental leave so that they have the time and financial security to experience hands on, solo parenting.
2) Provide paternity return to work coaching to mirror the maternity offer.
3) Create male leadership models who demonstrate and support active, involved fatherhood. Part time working, flexible hours, working from home. Model it and make it ok.
Ian Dinwiddy, Founder
Recent content
Blog Categories
Archive
- June 2025
- March 2025
- October 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- January 2024
- September 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- December 2022
- June 2022
- January 2022
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- March 2018
- June 2017
A new generation of dads wants be an active and involved parent and thrive at work - and this represents a major opportunity for families, the workplace and society.