23 January 2025
This story was originally posted via Circle In, an independent platform available to all Hydro Tasmania employees, which provides resources to support parents and caregivers.
Tom accessed Hydro Tasmania's progressive parental leave policy and flexible working approach to bond with his daughter and share the new caregiving and parenting responsibilities with his wife.
“I decided to take paid parental leave in two periods which is something I found really valuable about the design of the policy. It allows each person to figure out what works for them, with their unique situation in mind. I’m about to take my second period of paid leave which I’ve combined with other leave types to spend 12 more weeks as primary carer. It’s the period before our daughter begins childcare so I want to continue the bonding and also support the transition to childcare and support my wife who is returning to full-time work.”
This is important because equalising caregiving responsibilities allows women more freedom to pursue career opportunities, reducing the “motherhood penalty” where women often face career stagnation, reduced pay, or missed promotions after taking time off for caregiving. When men also take leave, it balances this impact, reducing career interruptions for women.
During the first period of leave, Tom accessed 20 weeks of paid leave by combining part of the 15 weeks paid parental leave with other paid leave types.
After returning from leave, Tom was in a role that required increased travel.
“The team helped support me with the travel requirements, however after a while, I realised I might need to look for a different role. This was met with support by my manager and after applying for a different role internally, I was successful in securing an internal move into a role with less travel. This is important for me as I still get to apply myself in a role and culture that supports me to be me.”
Tom is now about to embark on the second period of paid parental leave!
“In addition to more playground time, I also want to make sure my wife doesn’t come home from a busy day of work to a disaster zone at home”. Hydro Tasmania's policies promote shared caregiving from the start and lead to a more balanced distribution of household responsibilities over the long term, helping reduce the likelihood of one partner (often the woman in opposite sex relationships) shouldering a greater burden, which can otherwise impact their well-being and career trajectory.
When asking Tom what supported him to embrace the policies, he shared a few tips:
Parental leave and flexible working policies are crucial for engaging men in caregiving responsibilities, which can advance gender equality. When men actively participate in caregiving, it challenges traditional gender norms that place caregiving solely on women. This shift helps break down stereotypes and opens up more possibilities for all genders to define their roles more flexibly.
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