Supporting New Parents in the Workplace

Balancing work and family commitments can be difficult for new parents and organisations play a key part in supporting them with this. 

There are many things in place to support parents, such as maternity, paternity and shared parental leave. These do come with a qualifying period, which will be touched on further down. Having these policies in place really allows them to spend quality time at home with their child.

Statutory pay rates are in place for these policies however some organisations have enhanced pay schemes in addition to the statutory rates as an added benefit for parents. This is down to each organisation’s discretion and they can put in place anything they feel is beneficial. This is also a great retention package and will keep employees loyal and committed to returning to work.

Many SMEs can only budget and provide statutory leave, however there is value in rewarding employees who return and really put in above and beyond what is expected. It may be worth introducing a bonus or such like after six months of them being back work. This would really show your employees how much you value them.

It’s so important to keep in touch with those that are taking some form of family friendly leave, congratulate them on the arrival of the baby, inform them of any updates they would need to be aware of, and keeping up to date with when they will be returning to work. Lack of communication with those who are not at work due to family commitments can bring huge risks. You will have hard working, dedicated employees that are excited to come back to work and who may have also learned so many new skills as a parent, if you disregard them it can have a huge impact on the wider business.

New parents may also consider exploring their right to request flexible working to help manage work around their family commitments.  It would be sensible to ensure you have a Flexible Working Policy in place to support employees with this request. Flexible working was cited by 38% of workers as the most desirable policy for supporting parents, and LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report found that nearly 9 in 10 UK businesses believe it helps employees achieve better work/life satisfaction. If you are unsure how to get one implemented then get in touch.