e their roles, it’s become increasingly important to attract – and retain – this talent. “The pandemic has made us question our working lives,” Transitioning Well director and organisational psychologist Justine Alter told Inside Retail.  “Many people aren’t prepared to put up with what we call ‘the boss lottery’, or inflexible working hours anymore. Employees want to know if there’s a culture of flexibility and whether they can raise a family while still progressing.” As a baseline, the Australian Federal Government offers an 18 week paid parental leave scheme for primary caregivers, and two weeks’ paid leave for partners, with a total of 12 months of unpaid parental leave able to be taken out before new parents are expected to go back to work. But there are businesses willing to go beyond that in order to properly support their working parents, and it’s paying dividends.   Who Gives A Crap vice president of people and culture Ellie Smith told Inside Retail the business offers its workers paid leave of 16 weeks as a primary caregiver, or eight weeks as a secondary carer, and includes birth, formal adoption of a child under 16 years, or pregnancy loss as applicable reasons for leave. “When it comes to championing the parents among your team, we need to recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t going to work and that the support will be ongoing,” Smith said.  “The best thing we can do at Who Gives A Crap is provide people with options, and then listen to what they feel will work for them. The conversation can’t stop there, though.” Who Gives A Crap also utilises the ‘Circle In’ service – an all-in-one portal that provides working parents the information they need to do their best work while also juggling parental duties, such as creating automated workflows and resources based on their industry. According to Smith, offering such initiatives and resources is important as it helps parents at every stage of their journey – not just in the first few weeks. Nicola Kilner, founder and chief executive at skincare business Deciem, agrees. Deciem employees receive up to six months of fully paid time off work when starting a family, and this includes biological birth, adoption, surrogate and foster parents of all genders, Kilner told Inside Retail.  The business also offers a flexible return to work plan called ‘Baby Steps’, which includes working from home days, a gradual return to work hours, compressed work weeks and access to its HUGS program – which offers confidential wellness support for returning parents to help with the transition back to work. “It is our aim to provide new parents the opportunity to spend precious time with their newborn without any added financial pressure to return to work,” Kilner said. “I know from experience that the first six months of parenthood can be both magical and chaotic in equal measure, so we hope that by providing both financial and emotional support, this is one less stress factor for families to consider in their parenthood journey.  “New parents can take their time to return to work, and make this step when they feel truly ready.” According to Alter, initiatives like these, which allow for a smoother transition back to work and offer the support needed by working parents, make the difference between a great parental leave scheme and one that’s barebones.  “We’ve seen at the coalface that when organisations genuinely care, trust, and support their working parents, they get that back tenfold in loyalty and productivity,” Alter said. “These are the times when people need a little bit more, and when organisations need to give more.”