‘Maternity and parental leave structuring impacts your salary’ says expert
New mothers in the US receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave and no government assistance while Scandinavian countries offer up to a year’s maternity leave and 100 per cent pay.
WHILE South Africa’s maternity leave policies state that mothers are entitled to four months maternity leave, social expectations and gender stereotypes, are seen to place women at a disadvantage in the workplace, said Muhammed Goolab, executive committee member of the South African Rewards Association (SARA).
“When childcare responsibilities fall disproportionately on the mother, it impacts her career progression and can depress pay. Timespent outside of the workforce and other time sacrifices that are made to care for children deprive women of experience and impacts pay and promotions,” added Goolab.
He said that in the past, providing better maternity benefits to women was seen as a way of improving gender equity in the workplace.
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“Today, however, there is a move towards greater paternity benefits, which is believed to help better bridge the gap,” said Goolab.
Companies generally make their maternity leave policies easily accessible, and while maternity leave is regulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, it is a good idea for employees to educate themselves on additional benefits that their employers offer.
“Often companies offer additional benefits beyond those that are outlined in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, although accessing those benefits may require a work-back period,” says Goolab.
Goolab believes that HR and Reward managers should take a forward-looking approach when designing maternity leave policies.
The maternity leave policies of the future will seek to lessen the effect that childcare responsibilities have on mothers.
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“The most effective, future-focused maternity leave policies will be completely untied to gender and they will even encourage a balance between genders. Some companies are looking at alternate leave structures for new parents, such as cumulative maternity leave benefits, progression in the number of leave days where parents need to take care of more than one child and reduced working hours,” he said.
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