Has anyone negotiated better maternity pay?

[Bunny44]

I've got an offer for a new job I was going to accept, except they company just revealed they pay about 50% less enhanced maternity leave than competitors I was interviewing with. They're offering 12 weeks 100% pay in total (including stat), my previous company was 26 weeks and competitors are 18-20 weeks.

They asked me to sign as they want me to start as soon as possible but I would like another child in the next few years, I'm the primary earner in my household and this is really putting me off, especially when I have other companies interested. This role is paying similar to the other roles but there are several aspects I prefer about this company.

Anyway someone I know suggested I negotiate and pointed out many people in my industry negotiate pension, so why not also parental leave?

As you can imagine I'm wary about raising it but the person said they can't withdraw the offer based on me asking that. Thoughts or experiences welcome!

One reason companies may be reluctant to do it is it's easy to end up with a situation that looks like discrimination.

E.g. White women ask for extra maternity and get it granted whilst minorities don't even ask so don't get and you end up with a situation that looks like racial discrimination.

@ScratchedSkirtings Don’t be so ridiculous? Women run businesses. Many businesses offer very good terms and conditions but what you cannot really condone is one employee wanting substantially more pay than any other child bearing age woman can get at the company. This extra money is considerable and most companies would not engage in this. People covering her work would be unhappy too. The law around maternity is what it is and many companies go above and beyond but it’s the same deal for all. Also the company policy is clearly transparent to all and is legal and fair.

It’s pretty obvious on this thread who has never run a company! Yes, the other women would have a big grievance. It’s clearly unfair to them.

I can’t see any problem with anyone man / woman negotiating a better deal for themselves
Thats the real world

Or men ask for more money and higher pensions... Which they get..I feel like attitudes like this is why women are paid less...

@MeetMeOnTheCorner But why should mat pay be the big non-negotiable, when headline pay is widely seen as negotiable? And leave and pension - and indeed working hours- are all negotiated from time to time too?
apart from anything, it might prompt the company to improve mat pay in general, as the negotiation gives them the useful information that they are less attractive to the talent than their competitors are.
(funnily enough, I have run a company, but one in which there was no negotiation of anything due to being entirely grant funded (for a fixed lifespan too - basically a project set up as a company) with no room for flexing staff costs. It was a right pain, we lost out on good people. Would not recommend)

These are exactly my thoughts. They might well consider increasing parental leave for everyone if it's a sticking point compared to competitors. I feel like women do need to be brave and negotiate as hard as men do or nothing changes.

@ScratchedSkirtings Pay is negotiable within the pay structure of the company. So for example: DH employed civil engineers. These would range from just left university to Chartered Engineers running big projects and teams. Clearly some get paid substantial salaries for their knowledge, expertise and skills and others are just starting out, so get much less. In addition everyone got performance related pay and similar employment packages commensurate with seniority. No one would pay a more junior member of the team more than the team leader so unfettered negotiations on salary just don’t happen and salaries stay within the structure.

What you do not seem to realise is that companies must maintain pay differentials. You could not, for example, have a woman team leader earning the same as a man who was a junior engineer just because he was better at negotiating. In the same way, negotiating for a substantial uplift in paid maternity leave is putting the op far above the pay and conditions accepted by everyone else on the “grade”. She could of course have amazing performance and get a big pay uplift allowed for by the company policy but everyone has the opportunity for this. They don’t have the opportunity to get more paid maternity leave.

Pay “grades” or bands must reflect what the job actually is and be evaluated accurately. Moving the renumeration for one employee beyond that available to others is poor practice and should not be done.

Ok what I'll do is enquire and let you know how I get on. As PPs have said, I can only ask. I don't think the can or would withdraw the offer based on me asking.

I'm telling you that's not what I want to do and that other employers offer better. If your friend is happy to do that, that's on her. This would be my second child and so I've already been through this once. The first time I thought I'd be happy to take 6 months off but I ended up taking a year. You don't know until you're in the situation.

Are you saying this from someone who works in HR or recruitment? How about the fact some people negotiate pension contributions and PTO?

Yes. DH ran a company and I was CIPD until I retired. My DH didn’t alter pension contributions away from the agreed scheme so everyone got what was agreed. I have never worked anywhere where people negotiate separately because it’s unfair on everyone else. It also plays into the hands of the most vocal and those who are better at advocating for themselves but of course some of them would not be team players. The basic position is that everyone is treated fairly within a scheme that is clearly communicated to staff. Starting salaries were by negotiation but as I have explained they would be agreed within a framework of a pay policy. The paid time off is sickness etc and that’s laid out in the handbook which is part of the contract. Have you never seen one? Extra time off is usually unpaid but there is consideration of payment in exceptional circumstances but not extra months of maternity pay.

Freelance or consultants are different, they just get their fee or agreed rate.

Yes most companies I've worked for had benefit handbooks but I know several people who negotiated specific terms at other American companies of varying sizes.

Working in HR I would be reluctant to do this for various reasons, including that may pay rules are coded into payroll and it would be a massive PITA to remember to vary this for one employee every month.

however if it was someone we really wanted,
I would consider extra pay or
bonuses that the employee could use to fund her maternity leave/pay

@Bunny44 American companies possibly look at structure differently.

@HermioneWeasleyHow do you give extra pay for no apparent reason? Just because someone wants it? Bonuses are usually subject to a policy and how do you circumvent that? And should you? How is that fair to everyone else? I’m against this for all sorts of reasons and if other employees knew of favouritism they might be very upset. Is it worth it?

In my experience higher maternity leave pay is almost impossible to negotiate because it’s something really they would have to implement for everyone, and if they wanted to offer that to everyone then they already would have. Even for the most exceptional candidate, it wouldn’t be worth committing to paying potentially hundreds or thousands depending on business size full pay maternity just to get that one person through the door.

@Jellybunny98 Exactly. The op just has to see what job offers come in and look at benefits.

I think it’s naive to expect remuneration packages to be fair to other employees , certainly outwith the public sector
They can’t be discriminatory ,of course, but if we really want someone we will pay them more
Look at how often people secure a new job and then their present company offers them a pay rise to stay
The employer doesn’t then have to increase everyone else’s salary

@Motheranddaughter Yes but most will have limits for a job. They cannot promote a man to a higher salary than a woman doing a job of equal value. I know companies try and get round this by hiding remuneration packages and having secrecy but it’s not good practice because people find out. Would you want another woman who is having a baby to get double the paid maternity leave you do? I would bet you would not be happy.

TBH I would (and did) negotiate the best deal I could and if someone negotiated a better deal good luck to them