attribute: Workplace Flexibility
Workplace Gender Equality Indicators (Key Progress Indicators)
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Workplace Gender Equality Indicators (Key Progress Indicators)
This resource identifies eight key gender equality indicators and explains how to collect and measure the data:
- Ratio of men to women in workforce, overall and by teams.
- Ratio of men to women in leadership and management positions, including board, executive, senior and middle management level: For indicators 1-2, workplaces should collect and compare the number and percentage of women and men in each category.
- Ratio of male and female new hires and internal promotions, by level and department: Collect the number of female and males who are applying, and who have been hired and promoted across the organization in different departments and at all levels of seniority.
- Average salary gap between female and male staff members across the organization and by department: Collect and compare salary information from female and male employees across the organization and in different departments and levels of seniority.
- Comparison of male and female staff and managers who use flexible work arrangements.
- Comparison of male and female staff who use and return from parental leave with continued employment for 12 months: For indicators 5-6, workplaces should collect formal and informal data on the use of flexible work options.
- Changes in staff perception of workplace culture as measured by annual staff survey: Review questions being asked on annual surveys to ensure there are specific questions about gender equality.
- Reported incidents of sex-based discrimination and harassment: Track numbers, patterns, and responses.
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Federal and Provincial and Territorial Maternity and Paternity Leave Information
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Federal and Provincial and Territorial Maternity and Paternity Leave Information
To download this table, click here.
Creating a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace
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Creating a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace
Essential components of a breastfeeding-friendly workplace:
- Comfortable chair with supportive arms
- Small table, chair and electrical outlet
- Appropriatesignage (e.g. “ROOM IN USE”) to enhance privacy
- Baby changing station or table with a means to hygienically clean area
- Proximity tohand-washing facilities
Essential components that support breastfeeding in workplace culture:
- Flexible time schedule to accommodate breastfeeding/pumping
- Providing information to all employees
- Ensuring that managers and employees are supportive of breastfeeding and working
- Encouraging a network of women who can support each other when working and breastfeeding
- No age limit regarding the breastfeeding child
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What is the Link Between Business Strategy and Workplace Design?
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What is the Link Between Business Strategy and Workplace Design?
Employers can consult the Future of Work’s recommendations:
- Start with your employees–Find out their needs and provide workplace solutions to engage and empower
- Consider sustainable design from the outset. E.g. green walls, reclaimed building materials; water and plant features, energy-tracking
- Engage a team of workplace professionals–Help balance plans, budget, design, and change management
- Keep mobility and flexibility at the front of mind–Spaces should be multipurpose
- Beadaptable–Spaces should be updated every two to five years
- Be bold, be courageous–Change may be protested but progress is necessary
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Tackling Childcare – A Guide for Employer-Supported Childcare
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Tackling Childcare - A Guide for Employer-Supported Childcare
Designing a childcare strategy:
- Assess employees’ needs for childcare (i.e. availability, affordability, accessibility, quality)
- Review options for meeting employees’ needs including:
- Regular and/or intermittent childcare needs options: on-site childcare, cooperation with other companies, bring-your-child-to-work options
- Options for facilitating parental caregiving: maternity, paternity, and parental leave; breastfeeding; flexible work arrangements; information and referral services
Finalizing and implementing a childcare strategy includes:
- Review business goals and resources that support childcare strategy
- Understand the regulations and partnering possibilities
- Communicate widely and seek input
- Pilot programs
- Set baseline, establish metrics, assess program impact and success
- Integrate childcare strategy to broader corporate objectives (i.e. gender equality strategy)
To obtain more detail on this report, click here.
Want to Improve Gender Equality at Work? Help Men Take Parental Leave
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Want to Improve Gender Equality at Work? Help Men Take Parental Leave
- Review parental leave policies to either match paternity and maternity leave policy or implement a “non-gender-biased” parental leave policy.
- Gain leadership support by increasing awareness of paternal leave and its benefits through data.
- Build a corporate culture that supports paternal leave in all levels of the organization. This may require education, establishing resource groups, reviewing other HR and departmental policies.
- Educate and support managers on how to manage leave as their direct relationship with employees is essential.
- Improve social support for leave to reduce stigma that may impact men by communicating the organization’s efforts and actively confronting gender and social stigma.
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Making it Work! How to Effectively Manage Maternity Leave Career Transitions: An Employer’s Guide
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Making it Work! How to Effectively Manage Maternity Leave Career Transitions: An Employer's Guide
Some recommendations found are:
- Before maternity leave:
- Conduct exit interviews with employees before they leave to discuss questions and possible concerns, as well as expectations from both sides
- Establish a communication plan to determine how often communication will take place during maternity leave
- During maternity leave:
- Provide women with optional opportunities to participate in team events, meetings, training seminars, etc.
- Organize “Comeback Coaching” to support the transition before returning to work and reinforce organization’s support on women
- After maternity leave:
- Conduct return to work interviews to assess possible challenges, re-engage in the career dialogue, and determine further support required
- Encourage mentorship and sponsorship opportunities (different from “buddy system) to support women’s career development and progression opportunities
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Workflex and Small Business Guide – Big Ideas for Any Size
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Workflex and Small Business Guide – Big Ideas for Any Size
Some benefits for small businesses are:
- Ability to grow without necessarily growing their real estate
- Lower need for formal systems when implementing workflex arrangements
- Flexible work arrangements can leverage staffing to compete against larger companies
- Remote employees can expand organization’s reach into new locations and areas
Leveraging small teams for increased flexibility:
- Cross-train employees on job tasks and expand skills sets
- Emphasize regular and consistent updates on strategy, work progress and client relations
- Position workflex to get ahead of crises and as a return on investment tool
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Workflex and Managers Guide – Setting You and Your Team up for Success
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Workflex and Managers Guide – Setting You and Your Team up for Success
Recommendations for managing performance with workflex:
- Metrics of work success: Establish clear measures of employee success using job descriptions as a guide and avoiding using physical presence as a form of performance.
- Metrics of flex success: In addition to overall work metrics, create employee’s workflex expected outcomes to prevent burnout and ensure deliverables achievement.
- No cannibalizing the success: Make sure that every position has consistent expectations regardless of workflex arrangements to avoid increasing someone’s workload because of it.
- Communicate expectations: Make sure all employees know what is expected of them regardless of their work arrangements and communicate how updates and check-ins will be handled.
- Accountability: Keep everyone accountable and reinforce people’s understanding of the responsibilities to be fulfilled to make workflex work.
- Removing workflex is a poor punishment: This can add unnecessary stress and reduce employee performance. If needed, make adjustments to resolve poor performance.
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