The policies you need to help expectant employees in your business

Key takeaways

• Putting in place certain policies can help support the mental health of employees during the parental leave transition. 

• There are different policies to implement at different stages of the parental leave journey.  

• Helping employees feel supported and connected during parental leave can help reduce psychosocial risks.  

As a manager or small business owner, it can be very easy to learn of an employee expecting or adopting, wish them all the happiness in the world, and then move on to the next task. Then, when it comes time, it can be very simple to say, 'Don't think about us, just enjoy your time with the baby, and we'll see you when you get back'.  

While you may have the best intentions, these throw-away statements  can impact your employee's mental health. Instead, you can put several policies in place to support their journey throughout their pregnancy or adoption, the parental leave period and the return to work and protect their mental health.  

In the parental leave period  

Unpaid parental leave 

If employees have been employed for more than 12 months, they are entitled to take up to 12 months of unpaid leave, plus another 12 months if they wish to extend their leave (to a total of 24 months).  This is true of adoptive parents and birth parents.  

Adoptive parents are also entitled to two days of unpaid pre-adoption leave to attend interviews and appointments.  

Keeping in Touch Plan 

Working together to develop a Keeping in Touch (KIT) Plan, and encouraging employees to use their KIT days during leave, is vital to help keep employees connected and reduce 'shadow turnover' (employees who quietly leave because they assume the organisation won't support their needs upon return). It also offers a protective factor against depression and anxiety.  

Employer paid leave  

Some organisations are able to offer paid leave for both parents. This can be taken in conjunction (but not concurrently) with unpaid or government Paid Parental Leave. If your business is in a position to offer paid leave, top up pay, or paying superannuation during leave, such gestures show your commitment to being a family-friendly workplace, and can make you an employer of choice. Even if you aren’t able to offer financial incentives, there are many other ways to support expectant and new parents in the workplace such as flexibility and other types of support. 

Under workplace health and safety laws, businesses must eliminate organisational psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable. Helping employees stay connected during parental leave can help reduce common psychosocial risks such as:  

• Low job control. 

• Poor support. 

• Poor organisational change management. 

• Low recognition and reward. 

• Low role clarity. 

• Poor workplace relationships. 

• Poor environmental conditions.  

In the return-to-work period 

Flexible working arrangements  

Flexibility can be the shining light for helping new parents navigate the workplace. As an employer, you are obligated to accept flexible working requests from all workers where possible. If you do not approve the request, you will need to show reasonable business grounds for this decision. If you’re unsure how to approach flexibility in your business, take a look at our factsheet here for some suggestions. Flexibility doesn’t have to be hard, and there’s nothing to stop you agreeing to a trial period to see what does and doesn’t work. 

Support plans 

While arguably more a tool for your employee than for you, it’s worth encouraging your employee to work through their support plan. This plan will  cover the details of how they will manage their transition, what support they have, who they can call on in an emergency, and any workplace support you provide them.  

New parents can feel disconnected while on leave and, if left unsupported, may start to wonder if they are valued by the business. Implementing support strategies and robust policies to retain your parents on leave has many benefits to the organisation, such as worker and knowledge retention, an increase in wellbeing, and a culture of support for all.  

Now you’ve read what policies new parents need on leave, we tackle why supporting dads is just as vital as mums.