The following are examples of employers who embody leading practice on work-life/flexibility:
- Westpac
- Mercy Health
- Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd
- St.George Bank
- Cancer Council Queensland
- DCA members experience of benefits of paid maternity leave
- EOWA centre for work + life case studies
Members read more...
Westpac
The following case study appeared in 'Doing things differently: Case Studies of Work-Life Innovation in Six Australian Workplaces', published by the Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia.
Westpac is one of the four major banking organisations in Australia, and one of the largest banking organisations in New Zealand, providing a broad range of banking and financial services. As at 30 September 2010, The Westpac Group employed approximately 39,000 people in Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Westpac is ranked in the top 5 listed companies by market capitalisation on the Australian Securities Exchange Limited (ASX) and as at 30 September 2010 market capitalisation was $69.5 billion.
Industry:
The Australian banking sector is dominated by the four major banks. These four banks also provide services in funds management and superannuation, in competition with a broader range of financial intermediaries.
Background:
Westpac’s initiatives to support employees with family responsibilities aim to attract and retain talent. Westpac knows - based on feedback from their recruitment and ‘on-boarding’ processes, their employee engagement surveys and high return rates from parental leave (84% in 2009) - that flexible working arrangements (FWA) and innovative policies and programs are all key considerations for employees choosing Westpac over other organisations.
Program profile:
Westpac was one of the first publicly listed companies in Australia to provide paid maternity leave in 1995 (and paid paternity leave in 1998). Over the ensuing 15 years Westpac’s support for its employees with children has evolved to include FWA, tailored parental leave and other innovative policies.
Flexible Working Arrangements
Westpac recognises that for many women (and men) opportunities to work flexibly are attractive and the company’s strong track record in providing these opportunities is reflected in the number of FWA on offer and their take-up rates: a recently conducted Diversity Survey (with a response rate of about 50%) indicated that 43% of respondents (48% of females) had utilised one of the Westpac’s flexible working options, including:
- job-sharing;
- telecommuting;
- career breaks for up to twelve months;
- purchased leave for up to eight weeks;
- part-time employment;
- FWA including working from home and condensed hours.
Tailored Parental Leave
Westpac provides both financial and non-financial assistance to employees who are new parents and seeks to help these employees balance their work and family commitments. This includes:
- thirteen weeks of paid parental leave on full salary or on a half-pay basis over a 26 week period;
- if both parents work at Westpac, each is eligible for 13 weeks’ paid leave;
- no qualifying period of service to become eligible for paid and unpaid parental leave;
- automatic right to two years’ unpaid parental leave for the primary caregiver of a child;
- annual leave and long service leave may also be taken as part of the maximum 104 weeks’ leave;
- after parental leave, an employee has an entitlement to return to the position they held before they started their leave;
- employees may request to return to work on a part-time basis until their children reach school age and then return to a full-time position comparable to the one held before starting parental leave;
- employees may also choose to remain part-time and permanently change their mode of employment. Requests by an employee to work part-time under this policy will only be refused on reasonable grounds related to the effect on the workplace or the business.
In 2008, 1,329 employees applied for paid parental leave (991 had unpaid parental leave) while in 2009, 1,322 employees applied for paid parental leave (908 had unpaid parental leave).
Westpac aims to retain talented employees and support them to continue their career with the Group. Westpac believes that the parental leave process starts before the employee takes leave and not when they want to return to the office. To help with this process, Westpac has designed a parental leave program which ensures there is good communication between an employee and manager before leave begins, throughout that person’s leave, and as they return to work.
This program provides employees with a toolkit containing a range of practical advice on parenting and flexible workplace options prior to them taking leave. A ‘Corporate Communications’ newsletter is released each two months containing business updates, links to financial education and information, a section on career management, a profile on a working parent, and general tips on balancing working and parenting responsibilities. There is also a workshop available in the employees’ final months of leave to help them consider suitable work options and network with other parents due to return from leave.
Upon return to work, Westpac offer two support programs for mothers and fathers. The series of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Forums brings together like-minded working parents in a supportive, non-judgmental group, to help increase the number of options/solutions working parents have for dealing with the typical challenges they face. At the forums, participants discuss the challenges they face and share solutions for making both aspects of their lives less stressful and more productive, helping them to be more satisfied with both.
The forums cover topics such as managing guilt, and managing judgment and perceptions of others about working mothers. Topics include tips for negotiating with partners and colleagues, helping the person to get a clear view about the most important priorities and how to look after these at home and at work, all to assist in building confidence and competence as a working parent.
Parental leave for non-primary caregivers
An employee who is the non-primary caregiver may take an unbroken period of one weeks leave at the time of birth of the child. For parents adopting a child, the non-primary caregiver may take an unbroken period of up to three weeks’ leave when the child is officially adopted and moves to the family home. This leave may be taken from accrued sick leave (up to 38 hours), annual leave or on an unpaid basis. An employee who is the non-primary caregiver may also request Westpac to extend the period of simultaneous leave up to a maximum of 8 weeks. This further leave may be taken from any accrued annual leave or long service leave or as unpaid leave.
In addition, the leave policy includes reference to using accrued sick leave in flexible ways including for:
- the non-primary caregiver to take leave during the week after the birth or adoption of their child;
- accompanying a pregnant partner or spouse to a pregnancy-related appointment;
- carer’s leave.
Childcare
To assist employees who have pre-school aged children requiring childcare, the Westpac Group has negotiated special arrangements where Westpac Group employees have priority access to 22 high quality childcare centres around Australia. The childcare centres are managed by professional childcare service providers. All these centres are registered with the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) and participate in the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System.
Innovative Policies
As a provider of superannuation services and an employer, Westpac recognises that women employees are financially disadvantaged in retirement, through lower retirement savings as a result of taking time out of the workforce for their family.
To address this, in June 2010, Westpac became the first Australian private sector firm to pay up to 39 weeks in employee superannuation contributions while employees are on parental leave. Eligible male and female employees receive superannuation contributions of 9% of their base salary paid as a lump sum amount. In addition, ‘BT Super for Life’ account holders (including customers who are not Westpac employees) will have their administration fees waived for the duration of their parental leave up to 12 months.
Strategies for implementation:
Provide high level commitment
The CEO of Westpac has international recognition for her leadership of Westpac and for her commitment and action to improve professional opportunities for women. Most recently this includes a commitment to increase the proportion of women in the senior management levels of Westpac from 33 per cent to 40 per cent in the next four years.
The Board has endorsed the strategy of Westpac becoming one of the world’s best firms for diversity and flexibility and the Board has oversight of diversity policies and outcomes.
The Westpac Group Diversity Council, chaired by the CEO and with her direct reporting executives as members, meets quarterly and is charged with driving the agenda across the Group and championing diversity. The Council reviews performance against plans and targets, drives accountability, and communicates across the Group and within divisions. The Council is supported by the Diversity & Flexibility Team, which sits within the HR function.
A Centre of Excellence in Group HR for diversity and flexibility has been established, led by a senior executive with line management experience. To maintain an ongoing focus on women across the Westpac Group, a Head of Women in Leadership has been appointed to focus on advancing the opportunities for women at Westpac and to remove any barriers that may exist for women to maximise their potential.
Reinforce organisational culture
Having been on the journey for some years towards greater diversity and equity in employment, Westpac continues to reinforce a culture that supports diversity and inclusivity through:
- core Westpac values including ‘One Team’, ‘Integrity’ and ‘Valuing Each Other’. These values are prominently communicated through the Group intranet site and on other tools such as mouse pads. They are also part of performance reviews, remuneration outcomes, and the recruitment process and they are recognised in the Code of Conduct;
- merit based recruitment and promotion;
- development and implementation of policies and programs as outlined above;
- clear and objective processes for staff to access provisions of policies and programs;
- clear and objective processes and systems in place for managing claims of discrimination.
Engage managers and ensure accountability
All employees are required to complete compliance training on a regular basis, which includes a module on diversity workplace practices, and new managers also have a diversity component in their induction training. Diversity & flexibility policies are clearly communicated on the Group intranet.
The Westpac Values are included in individual managers’ performance objectives and also taken into account in remuneration review decisions.
Use established processes for new initiatives
Westpac continues to develop initiatives that enhance its attractiveness to employees with family responsibilities. The processes that underpin the development and implementation of such initiatives include analysis of cost implications, engagement with key internal and external stakeholders, submission of proposals for executive approval, formation of a cross-functional implementation team, development of formal policy and communication strategies across the Westpac group. Specific initiatives are reviewed post implementation for effectiveness and uptake.
Promote program
Westpac has well established mechanisms for promoting the Westpac vision, policies, programs (including new initiatives) and successes. Some avenues of communication provide information in general to employees (e.g. the intranet) and some information is tailored to specific needs (e.g. the Parental Leave Toolkit).
Monitor and report
Regular reporting/statistics are provided to the Board through the Group Diversity Council which meets quarterly.
In 2010, Westpac monitored its diversity outcomes through an organisational wide diversity audit.
Westpac has processes for seeking information, across the Group, from employees including:
- feedback from new employees on recruitment and ‘on-boarding’ processes;
- a staff perspective survey, which is conducted annually;
- blogs and interactive forums for staff.
Benefits to Employees and Employer:
The specific benefits of the superannuation innovation include:
For employees
- continuity of employment;
- continuation of employee contributions to superannuation in the 39 weeks that employees are taking unpaid parental leave;
- contribution to security in retirement.
For employer
- attracting and retaining talent;
- enhanced standing of bank and leadership in the industry;
- contribution to employees’ longer term financial security (women’s retirement savings);
- encouraging other firms to provide this superannuation benefit;
- enhancing bank’s reputation and CEO’s standing as family friendly.
Challenges and Key Lessons:
Challenge
Attract the best staff and retain them and their expertise, as they progress through life stages that include caring for family members.
Key lessons
These include:
- first mover advantage;
- continuity in benefits offered and reputation sustained;
- related business benefit of further encouraging superannuation savings in Australia.
Personal comments:
‘I have been part-time for a little over four years. Initially I moved to part-time to spend more time with my three boys and support my wife who was starting a small business. I have been well supported through various roles since I commenced part-time and have a number of tools available to me to work from several locations giving me the flexibility to be the primary carer and deliver on my Westpac commitments. The continued support of my people leaders allows me to keep this family balance and ensured my boys have had my attention when required and allowed my wife to continue to build her business. Since I have started part-time work, or probably more correctly stated, spent more time not being at Westpac, I believe my perspective has changed, enabling me to provide different insights at work.’ Peter, Change & Implementation Manager.
‘I’ve worked for Westpac for 28 years. In 2003 I had twin boys Matthew and Joshua. I came back to work two and a half days initially. Now I work four days – in the office and at home. Flexibility provides our family with enormous benefit. I can fulfil my needs for a career, and still be part of their excursions and sports days. Working part-time has pros but there are some cons too. Some say, working four days is akin to jamming five days into the hours you have. They might be right. I see it as a two way street. When Matthew was four he broke the femur bone in his leg. He spent four weeks in hospital and six weeks laid up at home. I continued my work and cared for him. Without the trust Westpac has in me, and flexible work arrangements I would have been out of the picture for a few months.’ Debra, Manager, Westpac Women’s Markets SA.
Source: Doing things differently: Case Studies of Work-Life Innovation in Six Australian Workplaces, Catherine McMahon & Barbara Pocock, published by the Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia, http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/default.asp.
