Allianz Australia has today been named on the top 20 Australian workplaces for new dads, showing its ongoing commitment to gender equity.
This follows Allianz being awarded, earlier this year, the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality Citation by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for the ninth year in a row.
The research, undertaken by parenting website Direct Advice for Dads and research firm CoreData, is the first of its kind in Australia and analysed the largest 500 Australian companies by revenue to identify workplaces that are leading the way with dad-friendly policies including parental leave and flexible work.
Allianz was named on the top 20 list of dad-friendly companies with policies including 12 weeks primary carer’s leave available for new dads, an option of either two weeks extra paid parental leave or providing superannuation contributions during parental leave, and two days of family and emergency leave.
“When it comes to gender equity, Allianz is proud to be an organisation that is making a real investment into cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace culture,” said Allianz’s Diversity and Sustainability Manager, Charis Martin-Ross.
“Just as Allianz tackles barriers to women’s progress in the workplace, so to do we support men’s involvement with their families and homes. Support for dads help us tackle outdated gender stereotypes, improves gender equity at work and in the home, and has positive outcomes for children”.
The research found that Allianz is one of only 10 of Australia’s largest companies that allow parents to ‘pass the baton’ meaning fathers or non-birth partners can assume the role of primary carer and access primary carer’s leave entitlements should their partner return to work within 12 months of the birth. These polices are making an impact, with Allianz observing a 34% increase in non-manager males taking primary carer’s leave across its last two annual reporting periods.
Ramy Hassan, an Account Manager based at Allianz’s Melbourne office, has benefited from Allianz’s ‘pass the baton’ policy and has just returned from 12 weeks primary carer’s leave looking after his youngest daughter when his wife returned to work.
“The ability to take 12 weeks primary carer’s leave allowed my wife to go back to work earlier from parental leave and at the same time it allowed me to spend quality time with my children that I otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do,” said Mr Hassan.
"As much as I already appreciated all the work that my wife and women in general do for their families the experience was a real eye opener for me as it was more work then I originally had imagined and gave me an even deeper appreciation for what my wife and women do for our families. I even learned how to do various hairstyles to keep my 5 year old daughter who is in Prep this year happy."
"Despite all the work involved, endless chores, sleepless nights and everything that goes with it, I would recommend it to any prospective fathers as it is a rewarding experience."
The research methodology for selecting the best places to work includes the length and uptake of paid primary carer’s leave, paid secondary carer’s leave, flexibility policies and other practices. Key findings of the research include:
- Less than one in three (30.2%) of Australia’s largest companies (by revenue) offer new dads at least two weeks of paid paternity leave.
- On average, dads in Australia’s largest workplaces receive just 1.1 weeks’ paid concurrent (secondary carer’s) leave, compared to an average of 11.5 weeks’ paid primary carer’s leave.
- One in four (25.6%) of Australia’s largest workplaces have parental leave policies that offer at least two weeks secondary carer’s leave, as well as at least 12 weeks primary carer’s leave to their employees.
- Only one in 10 companies (11.4%) in our assessable universe allow parents to ‘pass the baton’, meaning they allow fathers or non-birth partners to assume the role of primary carer and access their company’s paid primary carer’s leave entitlement, should their partner return to work within 12 months of the birth.
- Companies offering two or more weeks’ paid secondary carer’s leave are much more likely to offer flexible work practices to employees.
For the more details on the research findings, visit Direct Advice for Dads.