Let's get the law changed on maternity package transparency

[HilaryJSmart]

It isn't right that if you want to know a firm's maternity package as a job seeker, you usually have to ask.Please sign my petition asking parliament to force large companies to publish their policies petition.parliament.uk/petitions/224103
They are not going to treat us seriously unless we force them to. So, if you can, take a minute to sign this and to share it with like-minded friends. The government just stole the vote of MP Jo Swinson (who is on maternity leave) on a key issue. She recently put forward a proposal along the lines of the petition, but it's unlikely to get through unless the government makes time to discuss it.

Apologies for poor formatting, I was really struggling to get the post to preview at all, so was fiddling around to see what was wrong, then it posted itself.

Yeh I agree. It horrible to change jobs and not know what maternity package you're walking in to.

I know! And with minimum qualifying periods pregnancy might still be a vague thought for a few years time and it's STILL relevant.

Signed

Signed too. I think transparency is so important.

Most of them are published online? I would say the smaller firms without transparency and an online prescence are more of an issue?

Signed! I’ve just started a new job and never got to see the mat policy. Found it buried deep in the “company handbook” which I had to ask for! Turns out it’s crap as well, not that it would have been a deal breaker though to be fair.

Signed - have thought this for a while since I last changed jobs. There is sometimes some info online on job boards etc but it’s all hearsay/ could be out of date - would be much better if companies had to publish.

Great idea! Especially as recent threads have shown that packages can vary so hugely even within industries.

Signed! Started a new job 2 weeks ago and I have no idea what the maternity package is like yet.

Would it be a deal breaker tho? If I'm looking for a new job, I'm looking for lots of different reasons, the maternity package wouldn't even factor. Assume SMP and you can only be pleasantly surprised!

@trilbydoll I think it depends. Where I work currently the maternity package is excellent so there's absolutely no way I'd have moved jobs in the last couple of years for something that wasn't comparable to what I have now even if it were a higher base salary.

There was a thread recently and I was amazed at how little some people got... as in I knew mine was good, but I didn't realise how good which makes me even more reluctant to move now!

Signed!

Really though would you not take a job you wanted because of the maternity leave package?

It wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me.

Some places give 6 months full pay, vs 6 weeks 90%: if you are planning on having a baby in say the next 2 years, then that’s 20 weeks pay difference: you would have to have pay more than 20% higher to make up for the difference in the meantime. So I can certainly imagine it would be a deal breaker in some instances.

Done!

Whether or not it is a deal breaker depends on your life stage and goals - for example my work offers nearly 6 months full pay, and also offers the same package to men who take on the role as primary carer. This is a huge inducement for someone who plans to start a family soon, and was for me on returning to work knowing we wanted more DC. It also should be great for retention - however my experience is that lots of junior employees have no idea how great our package this is for our industry, because others aren't published (and it could feel like borderline career suicide to ask to look at the maternity policy during an interview).

This means that companies offering rubbish aren't penalised, companies being generous aren't rewarded, and people in looking to have children aren't able to make the best decision for their families. Sounds like a perfect target for transparency for me!

Barley5, I agree, but it's partly an issue of what might actually get through. This idea is pretty low cost because it can be tied in with gender pay gap reporting (only applies to large companies), so companies already have the infrastructure. It benefits people at smaller companies as it gives comparators if they are negotiating, and hopefully starts a cultural shift to a point where it's more acceptable to have that discussion as part of the hiring process. It's not perfect but I think it's a good, achievable, first step.

Those saying that the maternity policy isn't necessarily a dealbreaker on taking a job - in most cases I agree (my own current position offers only statutory, which I knew going in, but more than makes up for this by being family friendly in other ways). However, if applicants never even see it there is no motive for companies to consider it as part of the offer they need to be competitive on - which disproportionately disadvantages women.

Signed :)

I wish I could like all the posts of the people who have signed! If you feel strongly about it please also share the petition with your friends and family, so they can support us too.

Signed. Agreed. It can be quite hard to find out even when you've joined a company, never mind before.

Signed. My company doesn't make theirs available anywhere, even to current employees. We have 25,000 employees, not a small company, yet you'd need to specifically ask to see it. It's very wrong.

"Large" in this context means 250 employees or more - so you'd definitely count jalapenis!

Signed. I feel a hostage where I am at the moment - not particularly happy - could no doubt earn more elsewhere but want kids and am actively trying!

@trilbydoll it is also a deal breaker in staying in a job.

I have a friend who left her job because a few years after the company got taken over they decided to down grade the maternity package. They used the excuse that all women who could get pregnant/adopt had already benefited from the package ignoring the fact that women can still get pregnant/adopt children up until their 50s. This meant they lost a handful of their more experienced female employees.

My OH is only staying in his job because a couple of his managers worked out how he could get the maximum pay in his company for taking shared parental leave above statutory.