Roundtable – Parental Policies

11th June 2024 | 11am to 12pm

Exploring best practice blueprints and barriers to enhancing or equalising parental leave

In collaboration with the University of Bath

Please join us for this Working Families Roundtable, chaired by our Relationship Managers, Diana Gilmore and Susanne Woodhams and produced in collaboration with Professor Susan Milner, Chair of the Working Families’ Academic Advisory Board and Professor in the Department of Politics, Languages, and International Studies at the University of Bath.

Enhancing or equalising parental leave for mothers and fathers can be an effective catalyst for changing workplace cultures, as well as enabling caring to become a shared responsibility within families. Our 2023 Top Employers Benchmark showcases just how far the dial has moved to enhance support, with only 12.5% of employers providing the basic SPL statutory minimum and 87.5% matching their SPL to their enhanced maternity leave provision. However, few employers have taken the leap to offering Equal Parenting Leave, with the most popular Partner Leave offering still only 2 weeks.

By abandoning assumptions around how family leave should be utilised within families, a growing number of employers are breaking the mould by introducing progressive new SPL, Equal Parenting Leave and Paternity Leave packages. During this roundtable, Working Families will be speaking to some of these organisations, to explore how these best practice blueprints are shaping the future. Kicking off with an introduction from Professor Susan Milner’s research into this area, we will be hearing from an employer panel and then will be opening up the conversation to attendees who can share their insights or questions.

You can expect tangible takeaways from employers, practical tips and understanding in several areas: 

• What are employers offering in term of enhancing and equalising parental leave and how do they monitor and measure their policies?
• What drives employers to enhance and equalise leave, and how could more employers be supported and encouraged to do this?
• How do they communicate their policies internally?
• How do they assess the uptake and the impact that their policy have internally?

Please be aware that this is not a lunch and learn. By attending this session you are contributing to brand new research. We are keen to understand your experiences and learnings across these areas, so please come ready to share and participate in our discussion, if you are comfortable doing so.

This event is for Working Families members only.