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Target Area: Family-friendly

Creating a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace

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ATTRIBUTES
  • Recruitment, Retention and Promotion
  • Workplace Flexibility
  • Workplace Wellbeing and Safety

SOURCE
  • Ontario Public Health Association

TYPE OF RESOURCE
  • RReport

TARGET AREA
  • Family-friendly, Strategy

TARGET UNIT
  • Human Resources, Senior Leadership

LINK TO RESOURCE

Creating a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace

Ontario Public Health Association
This guide aims to assist employers when designing workplaces with accessible, well-equipped spaces for employees to breastfeed. This guide can also be used by employees who are attempting to establish lactation rooms or breastfeeding-friendly spaces at their workplace. It contains physical components that need to be in place for employees to breastfeed on-site, as well as cultural components that can help establish a company culture that respects breastfeeding and new mothers.

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

To learn more, click here.

Tackling Childcare – A Guide for Employer-Supported Childcare

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ATTRIBUTES
  • Workplace Flexibility

SOURCE
  • International Finance Corporation

TYPE OF RESOURCE
  • RReport

TARGET AREA
  • Family-friendly, Strategy

TARGET UNIT
  • Human Resources, Senior Leadership

LINK TO RESOURCE

Tackling Childcare - A Guide for Employer-Supported Childcare

International Finance Corporation
This report is based on practical insights from 10 companies and provides detailed information on the business case for employer-supported childcare, and how to design and implement a childcare strategy.Tackling Childcare is an initiative from IFC to better understand employer-supported childcare and to assess private and public sector dimensions to address childcare.

Designing a childcare strategy:

  • Assess employees’ needs for childcare (i.e. availability, affordability, accessibility, quality)
  • Review options for meeting employees’ needs including:
    1. Regular and/or intermittent childcare needs options: on-site childcare, cooperation with other companies, bring-your-child-to-work options
    2. 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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ATTRIBUTES
  • Organizational Culture
  • Workplace Flexibility

SOURCE
  • MERCER

TYPE OF RESOURCE
  • AArticle

TARGET AREA
  • Employee Support, Family-friendly

TARGET UNIT
  • All Management, Human Resources

LINK TO RESOURCE

Want to Improve Gender Equality at Work? Help Men Take Parental Leave

MERCER
This article is based on MERCER’s 2018 “Global Parental Leave Report” and provides an overview of some of its most relevant findings. Additionally, it provides five key areas for employers to consider with regards to men, parental leave, and gender equality.

  1. Review parental leave policies to either match paternity and maternity leave policy or implement a “non-gender-biased” parental leave policy.
  2. Gain leadership support by increasing awareness of paternal leave and its benefits through data.
  3. 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.
  4. Educate and support managers on how to manage leave as their direct relationship with employees is essential.
  5. 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.

To learn more, click here.

Making it Work! How to Effectively Manage Maternity Leave Career Transitions: An Employer’s Guide

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ATTRIBUTES
  • Career Development
  • Recruitment, Retention and Promotion
  • Workplace Flexibility

SOURCE
  • Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling

TYPE OF RESOURCE
  • GGuide

TARGET AREA
  • Family-friendly, Strategy

TARGET UNIT
  • All Management, Human Resources

LINK TO RESOURCE

Making it Work! How to Effectively Manage Maternity Leave Career Transitions: An Employer's Guide

Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling
This guide is a comprehensive manual to help employers tailor specific strategies to the needs of their organization and employees as a result of pregnancy, birth, or adoption.

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

To learn more, click here.