Flexible parental leave: a lasting impact

23 January 2025



When Tom Shurvell started at Hydro Tasmania as a Graduate Engineer 10 years ago, a parental leave policy wasn’t the number one factor in his decision to join. After moving from Geelong to start his career in Tasmania, Tom wanted career development and a great culture. Those things remain important to Tom alongside the more recent factor of being supported as a working parent.

 

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.

 

“When the policy was updated, it really confirmed that this is the company and the culture for me, especially with plans to expand our own family on the horizon.”

 

“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.

 

“I know that things were different for dads in previous generations. I’m reminded that some older men were lucky to get half a day to be there for the birth of their child. It’s encouraging to see more companies evolve. Many dads who are in a similar age group to me are looking to work for organisations who offer progressive policies. It’s definitely becoming a factor in our decisions to join and stay with a company.”

 


 

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.

 

“This period of leave allowed me to bond with my daughter. Bonding isn’t always about huge milestones, it’s sometimes just reducing the stress by being paid regularly whilst you carry out the everyday tasks of being a parent and seeing a little person grow.”

 

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.

 

“I want other parents, especially dads, to know that I’ve had a positive supportive experience. For those who can access paid leave and flexible work, just do it! The benefits of being able to switch off, being present without the stress of work is game-changing. The culture and policies are what keeps me here. They align with the kind of person I want to be, as a contributor at work and in my life as a partner, dad and more.”

 

 

When asking Tom what supported him to embrace the policies, he shared a few tips:

  • Give as much notice as possible. It helped that I gave plenty of notice so we could work through backfill arrangements and handover plans. Explore the policy and discuss ways to take the leave flexibly and ways to combine leave types.
  • Look for other dads who have walked the path before. It was an important part of reducing any stigma.
  • Find your own flex. I know other parents here who work 4 days or 5 days with later start times to allow for dropping children off to care/school. Seeing others work flexibly will help you find your own rhythm.

 

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.

 

For more information about our policies, visit www.hydro.com.au/careers

 

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