This International Women’s Day we are keeping the focus on inspired action.
Cupcakes? We don't know them.
Today marks the anniversary of our industry leading Paid Parental Leave Program (PPLP), but we don't believe this should be industry leading. It's 2024 and the stats still remain.
On average, an Australian woman earns $1 million less than an Australian man across her career. Motherhood comes with an earnings penalty. Across the first five years of parenting their first child, a woman’s earnings are reduced by approximately 55%. During the same time, men’s earnings remain unaffected (Australian Government’s Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce 10 Year Plan).
We are determined to do our part to close this gap.
Women work, women also create life and have children (can you say that again?!), and it's our view you have the right to both.
So, we’ve made a commitment. Every year we will take inspired action to continue to close this gap. We will continue to build on our PPLP legacy over the next 5+ years. As we grow, the impact we can make grows. We'll continue reinvesting profits back into our people.
This year, after listening to our people and their needs, we will be introducing additional and separate leave entitlements for appointments associated with IVF and egg freezing. Empowerment is about giving people choices, and we believe this does just that. The evolution of the PPLP won’t stop here, so watch this space.
There is no doubt that the challenges faced by working women are complex, wide, and varied, but with the right support from employers, these challenges are infinitely more possible to overcome.
Our call to action? Employers, business owners, CEOs, and business leaders. It is time to prioritise programs like this of your own. It's not only the right thing to do _ it's good business.
Don't know where to start? Our doors are open. Reach out to PC@dissh.com.au and join our collective mission.
This is how you make a difference. This is how you invest in change. Read what the impact of our PPLP has meant to DISSH families below:
Clarissa Ross, Brand Marketing Manager
What does the PPLP mean to you?
I get emotional every time I talk about it. There is so much societal pressure on women in how they show up for their career, especially as a mum. DISSH walking the walk and investing in change gives me hope that my daughters will grow up with this as the norm, and not the exception.
Is it important to you to work for a business that offers family planning initiatives?
Before DISSH it wasn’t something I had considered. Although now that I’ve experienced how an employer can invest in their workers it would be a deal breaker for me.
Do you think there’s a stigma around family planning discussions between employers and employees?
I kept my previous pregnancies extremely quiet, working through sickness to avoid seeming superfluous. When I returned, I barely spoke about my new life as a mother. I felt like I had to prove I was as worthy and reliable as my co-workers who didn’t have children.
Lainey McIntyre, Partnerships Manager
Does career progression influence your decisions around family?
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t come into play. On one hand, I feel like you only hit your career stride in your late twenties and early thirties – but that's also the time when everyone starts probing you about your plan for having kids. I love my job, and don’t want to take a break from the fast pace of our industry, however it’s quite presumptuous to think I’ll be able to click my fingers as soon as I decide the time is right. It’s a balance between not being ready now, while trying to simultaneously plan for it.
What does the PPLP mean to you?
Outside of the incredible financial and professional elements of the DISSH PPLP, it’s the support that's most meaningful.
Has its existence changed your mindset?
It’s encouraged me to be more proactive and take control of my fertility and family planning rather than pushing it aside until I have more money, more time, more excuses!
What are your biggest concerns about balancing career and parenthood?
Stepping away and struggling to step back in. It feels like you’ll get to the peak only to jump off and have to climb back up again.
Is it important to you to work for a business that offers family planning initiatives?
Absolutely. Being aligned in values is paramount.
Michelle Moore, Online Service and Returns Manager
What has been the most helpful part about the PPLP to your situation?
It’s meant I’ve been able to enjoy time at home with my little one without financial suffering or sacrifice.
Without a PPLP, how would you feel about returning to work? Would it affect your decision to stay with a company?
Without a PPLP program, I would have had no option but to return to work sooner. While it wouldn’t necessarily affect my decision to return, it would have come with a lot more stress and guilt.
Did the PPLP enable you to take the amount of time off you wanted?
Absolutely. Eight months was a great amount of time. It allowed me to find my new normal comfortably.
Discover all the details included in our PPLP here.
