Parent and caregiver discrimination is ‘rarely a single decision’

In the face of seemingly systemic barriers to workplace participation and gender equality, experts are urging employers to ensure policy actually operates as intended.

Further to a recent report from the Australian Human Rights Commission revealing that pregnancy and caring responsibilities remain a major driver of workplace discrimination, HR Leader spoke to human resources professionals to examine the findings and how employers can better support workers through policy and culture.

Reflecting on existing legal protections for such cases, Rebecca Kennedy, HR manager at law firm Resolve Divorce, said the findings reinforce the gap between an employee’s rights on paper and their lived experience.

“The law falls short because it largely relies on someone raising a complaint at the most stretched point in their life. It also struggles to reach the quieter decisions: the work that drifts elsewhere, the opportunity or promotion not offered, the flexible arrangement approved but resented,” Kennedy said.

In this way, she surmised that the issue stems from legal, policy and cultural deficiencies, but that “policy tells people what’s allowed. Culture tells them whether it’s safe to ask.”

This sentiment was echoed by Konica Minolta’s chief people and culture officer, Gabrielle Stevens, who explained that issues arise when protection “depends on the person who’s been treated badly putting their hand up, which they frequently don’t either because they don’t understand their rights, aren’t prepared for the emotional toll of putting in a claim, or are concerned about the impact on future employment prospects”.

In this way, Stevens noted that many issues simply don’t get reported, pointing to an urgent need to focus on culture.

While acknowledging the law dictates what employers can and can’t do, and that many companies have policies that align with these requirements, the culture, values and management methods within an organisation make the biggest impact on an employee.

Stevens noted that the report raised an overreliance on assumptions, such as “she won’t want the bigger job now she’s got a baby. He’s working from home, so he’s probably not that committed … Nobody says these things out loud, and that’s exactly what makes them so hard to call out.”

“You can tick every legal box and still lose great people because they’ve been quietly pushed to the side, which is again about culture and the values of an organisation,” she said.

Further, Annalinde Nickisch, chief people officer at Probiotec Limited, noted that the biggest deficiencies lie within organisations, with often numerous decisions and factors fuelling pregnancy and carer discrimination.

“It builds up through a roster change, a project given to someone else, a name left off a promotion shortlist, a restructure that happens to land during parental leave,” she said.

“Each decision can be justified on its own. The pattern often can’t.”

Nickisch said that employers are often ignorant of discriminatory patterns because she don’t look for it, often failing to track those returning to work to the degree that those taking leave are tracked.

“Very few of us track what happens when they return: who’s still with us a year later, who’s been promoted, and whose pay has kept pace with their peers,” she said.

According to David Field, director of people and sustainability and chief legal counsel at Canon Australia, Australian businesses should take on board the concerns expressed in the report.

He urged employers to consider whether there are processes to ensure they consider whether restructuring proposals have a disproportionate impact on women or employees on parental leave or with caregiving responsibilities, and have the discipline to test the impact of proposals before they’re implemented.

Noting that Australia faces over-regulation, he said: “If Australian businesses as a whole can’t rise to addressing the concerns that have been raised, we’ll only have ourselves to blame if we find ourselves with yet more regulation.”

For Kennedy, a core consideration for employers should be on shifting their understanding of flexibility.

“Employers can start by treating flexibility as a design question rather than a favour,” she said.

Reflecting on processes within Resolve Divorce, she said systems operate on the understanding that everyone’s circumstances are different, and it is possible to balance individual needs with those of clients and the business.

“HR oversees each arrangement, so decisions stay consistent and fair, rather than resting on one manager’s discretion. That might be part-time roles, split days so parents can do pick-up and log back on later, or a return from parental leave shaped around the person,” she said.

“It takes creativity as a business, and the payoff is trust, retention and people who bring their best to work.”

Further, Stevens said flexibility starts with possibility, with practicalities easier to resolve once the conversation commences.

In the same way, she said: “Slow down the decisions where things tend to go wrong.”

“If you’re looking at a redundancy, a roster change or a change in duties for someone who’s pregnant, on parental leave or just back, P&C should be looking at it before it happens rather than relying on someone to make a complaint after the fact.”

In addition, Stevens urged employers to enforce both policies and values. In practice, this may look like ensuring people’s pay increases and promotion opportunities are available on return to work, and broadly speaking, ensuring the workplace is fair and inclusive.”

“I think it is about educating and upskilling leaders. Most of them aren’t setting out to discriminate, but might have bias they aren’t aware of or preconceived ideas that can be challenged; that’s the role of a good P&C team,” she said.

In this way, Nickisch said employers don’t need more research to take action, adding: “The evidence is already in our own payroll and HR systems.”

“A simple test would prevent many problems: if you couldn’t explain a decision in writing to the person it affects, you probably shouldn’t make it.”

Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make HR Leader a preferred news source on Google.