To what extent is the business ready for the work-life balance directive?
The Diversity Charter initiates a ranking aimed at selecting companies that are friendly to gender equality in parental care. The main goals of the ranking are to diagnose: to what extent and how companies in Poland support their employees who are parents in sharing parental care and to distinguish companies that understand that their actions contribute to building a world of equal opportunities and promoting the idea of work-life balance . Parental care is one of the most important factors in the gender inequality. Even at the beginning of the twenty-first century, researchers from around the world noted the phenomenon of the so-called the motherhood penalty, a financial „maternity penalty” in the wage gap that often affects mothers in the labor market, even though it does not affect fathers. The consequences of gender-asymmetric activation go further and include differences in pensions, social security entitlements, participation in public life and personal development opportunities. The response to it is a large-scale state policy, which includes, inter alia, paid parental leave regulations. However, research shows that the use of existing support tools for parental care requires overcoming structural, mainly cultural, barriers. Therefore, social policy must be accompanied by the promotion of equal attitudes, and in this matter, apart from the state, enterprises are also an important entity. In 2019, the European Union’s work-life balance directive was adopted. It assumes that each EU member state will implement non-transferable, 2-month parental leave for one parent, which is to increase the share of men in childcare. Member States, including Poland, are required to effectively introduce the provisions of the directive into the national legal order by August 2, 2022. Supporting equality between men and women in the labor market and effective reconciliation of work and family life are important challenges of social and economic policy in Poland. As part of educating entrepreneurs on promoting equality in parental care, the Share the Care Foundation has initiated a study to diagnose the extent to which the business community is ready to introduce changes supporting the work-life balance directive. As a result of the study, a ranking of companies supporting equality in parental care will be created. An important area of the ranking will be getting to know and collecting good practices that support employees in sharing childcare, implemented in Polish companies. Thanks to this, the ranking will be a compendium of knowledge for other companies that face this social challenge. “Despite many changes in Polish social policy, parental care is one of the most important factors of gender inequality. This disproportion and the inevitability of introducing the provisions of the EU directive in Poland have become a reason to check whether Polish companies are prepared for this challenge and to develop a ranking of gender-friendly companies in parental care „- says Dr. which will conduct surveys among companies. The ranking of institutions friendly to the equal division of parental care will be prepared on the basis of on-line questionnaires filled in by employers. Social policy in Poland should be accompanied by the promotion of equal attitudes, and in this matter, apart from the state, enterprises are also important entities. Employers, by shaping their internal policy, can support employees in certain attitudes (e.g. encourage them to take paternity leave), and also present their own offer of social support, going beyond the state minimum. “Employers have a huge role to play in equalizing the right of both parents to childcare. We know that there are already employers in Poland who notice this social trend. They understand that it results both from the increasing willingness of fathers to fulfill themselves as fathers and the increasing willingness of women to fulfill their professional ambitions. We are aware that this is a new phenomenon and we appreciate all attempts by employers to respond to this new situation, which builds a new quality in the labor market and in social life „- emphasized Karolina Andrian, president of the Share the Care foundation promoting a family partnership model that allows parents to implement in all spheres of life. „Pracodawcy mają do odegrania olbrzymią rolę w wyrównywaniu prawa obojga rodziców do opieki nad dzieckiem. Wiemy, że w Polsce są już pracodawcy, którzy dostrzegają ten trend społeczny. Rozumieją, że wynika on zarówno z coraz częstszej chęci ojców do realizowania się w roli taty oraz coraz większej chęci kobiet do spełniania swoich ambicji zawodowych. Zdajemy sobie sprawę, że jest to nowe zjawisko i doceniamy wszelkie próby odpowiedzi pracodawców na tę nową sytuację, która buduje nową jakość na rynku pracy i w życiu społecznym ” – podkreśliła Karolina Andrian, prezeska fundacji Share the Care promującej partnerski model rodziny, który pozwala rodzicom realizować się we wszystkich sferach życia.
“Through our activities, we want to draw the attention of the business to the challenges of combining work and care. One of them is the insufficient involvement of men in caring roles and the lack of systemic forms of support for women. They are the ones who bear the negative consequences of such a state of affairs. A qualitative change in the area of a fairer division of caring responsibilities, including parental responsibilities, is necessary if we want to talk about building an inclusive labor market. This is a topic that concerns all employers, ”comments Marzena Strzelczak, President, CEO of the Responsible Business Forum, which coordinates the Diversity Charter in Poland.
Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.
