Balancing parental leave, family and career

When senior people and development manager Jason Schutze-Stafford became a parent 16 years ago, conversations about parental leave looked different to those we have today.

As two gay dads, Jason and his partner were also starting a family that didn’t necessarily fit traditional assumptions about who would be the primary carer or how responsibilities would be divided. Both chose to take parental leave.

‘We both wanted to be present, particularly in the early days of becoming parents. We wanted to have the opportunity to step away from work and give that part of our son’s life the attention it deserved.’

Challenging assumptions about work and caring

Returning to work helped Jason become clearer about his priorities and more conscious of making time for both his career and his family.

As a leader, that experience also influenced how he thinks about the responsibilities people manage outside work.

‘Everyone has a life outside work, and those commitments look different for different people.’

Importantly, Jason says that means avoiding assumptions about whose career takes priority, who the ‘primary’ carer is or what a family looks like.

‘My own family probably challenged some of those traditional assumptions, so I think I’m particularly conscious of giving people the space to make choices that work for them and their families.’

There will be times when work needs more from us, Jason says, and others when family needs to come first. For him, recognising that is part of supporting people to build careers alongside their commitments outside work.

Jason Schutze-Stafford

When policy and culture work together

Jason took parental leave earlier in his career, before joining Allens. Since then, parental leave policies and the conversations around caring responsibilities have continued to evolve.

Today, Allens’ Australian parental leave package does not distinguish between primary and non-primary carers and allows employees to take leave at the same time as their partner. Permanent employees are eligible without a qualifying period and can access 26 weeks of paid parental leave, with two years to use the paid leave and flexibility in how it is structured.

The package also includes superannuation on paid and unpaid parental leave up to a maximum of 26 weeks, one-to-one transition coaching with a specialist provider and carer information toolkits. Legal employees returning after more than three months of parental leave also receive a formal, temporary break from billable expectations.

For Jason, his own experience of becoming a parent has reinforced the importance of pairing policies like these with a workplace culture where people feel supported to use them.

‘Policies are obviously important, but culture is what determines whether people feel comfortable using them.’

That means supporting people who take it and challenging the idea that caring responsibilities say anything about someone’s ambition or commitment to their career.

‘Leaders can make an enormous difference by talking positively about parental leave, supporting people when they take it and, importantly, not treating flexibility or caring responsibilities as a lack of ambition or commitment.’

Learn more about Allens’ parental leave package here.