Another form of discrimination at the workplace is the one related to religious symbols. As regards the EU, a minority of Member States have national, regional and/or local legal prohibitions relating to the wearing of (some forms of) religious clothing and symbols at work in public and/or private employment, in other areas or even in all public spaces.

A few other Member States are considering such legislation. There is case law from just over half of the 27 EU Member States but there are also Member States where the issue has not (or not yet) arisen. Therefore, practices vary significantly between Member States, but the issue of the wearing of religious clothing or symbols has arisen in case law or debates in a considerable number of EU Member States.

Discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief is prohibited by the Employment Equality Directive. Until recently, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) had not given any judgments on religion or belief discrimination, but, on 14 March 2017, its first two judgments in this area came out. Both cases concerned Muslim women who wanted to wear a Muslim headscarf or hijab to work and who were dismissed when they refused to take these off. The CJEU has stated that the ban on the wearing of headscarves at work does not constitute direct discrimination on grounds of religion or personal beliefs. Yet the matter is not so simple and it requires on the employer’s part:

The willingness to dialogue and mediate

A clear explanation of the needs of the employees not only to the employees themselves, but also to clients and external figures who collaborate with the company

The aim for a more intense dialogue between different cultures and creeds

Author: Anna Zavan

We’ve already focused on DRESSCODE (link) as well as on DIFFERENT CULTURES (https://feminismatwork.business.blog/?p=223) , but it can also be difficult to combine both. When colaborating with foreign companies, you will always be confronted with different cultures and it is important to adapt to those cultures. BUT make sure that it is the RIGHT way of adapting the culture and that you don’t do the WRONG sacrifices.

Three Tips:

Your employees COME FIRST ! Never forget that if you mistreat your employees their attitude will change, their motivation will be lost and your profits will decrease. No matter how much profit you can gain with a new partnership, if your employees suffer from the situation, you’ll have a lost AND bad press. For example partnering with an antifeminist company that requests your female employees to cover up (or in any other way dress unconfortable) when being in meeting, will make your female employees dissatisfied. Do NEVER sacrifice your female employees freedom for a partnership.

DO NOT CHANGE YOUR RULES ! Even if another company with a different culture would be grateful if your female employees would cover up, wear skirts instead of pants and so on, NEVER request anything like that from your employees. It will maybe happen that a company with a different culture is confused by the way your female employees dress (no bras, pants, …), but you MUST stick to your OWN dresscode (link) NOT to someone elses dresscode.

COMMUNICATE with the other party. If you are having a partnership with a company that belongs to a different culture and has different expectations, don’t forget, communication is the key. Inform (best in written way) that you are a feminist company and that in you have a free and feminist dresscode. Inform about your dresscode rules and that your femal employees will not do any sacrifices.

In the UK Feminism is quiet strong developed and understood, but business is international. Sooner or later every international company is confronted with different cultures and within this it is confronted with a different image and behaviour towards women.

Make sure you protect your female employees and support them NOT ONLY in your home country. Imagine having a business negotiation between your company and a company in a country that is less open to feminism. Especially if a female employee holds a power position it could get to conflicts.

Three Tips:

HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM

SAY „NO“! If the other party is disrespectful towards the female employee, ignores her opinion or even interrupts her, STOP the negotiation/conversation/meeting. Inform the other party in oral (or if not possible in written) form that you are only willing to negotiate, if the female employee is treated respectful and feminist. MAKE CLEAR that you are not willing to accept any different behaviour.

ADAPT the other culture, BUT DO NOT cross the line! If the other party belongs to a culture, in which it is expected from women to cover up, make sure to talk to the female employee OPENLY about the situation. DO NOT demand from the female employee to cover up and DO NOT put pressure on her. If she wants to dress in a way that for example shoulder and legs are covered, she can, BUT DO NOT force her. DO NOT cross the line! To wear for example a scarf, when not following the according religion is NOT AN OPTION and also is disrestpectful towards the other culture / party.

Make CLEAR on your website and before partnering with other companies that feminism is one of your main values and that you do not accept any antifeminist behaviour. If a company acts antifeminist, they are anyway not a good choice for a partnership.

The DRESSCODE in a company is always a difficult topic, but it is a MUST care topic. It seems like nowadays there are no differences between male and female dresscode. BUT when it comes to High Heels vs. Flat shoes, Bras and Skirts, we suddenly see that woman are in a more difficult situation.

See “https://feminismatwork.business.blog/?p=146” for more information about BRAS.

As a company you might want all your employees to dress confortable, but professional. Therefore informe your employees clearly about your demands and make sure that your demands are NOT antifeminist.

Three Tips:

HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Know the NO GOS !!! There are several things you MUST not demand from your female employees.

Including:

• High Heels
• Bras
• Skirts / Dresses
• Make up / No Make up

Let your employees know that you want them to feel confortable. Ask yourself if a special professional dresscode is even needed at all. Include information on your website, contracts and job descriptions.

For example:

“Considering our dresscode we want our employees to look professional, but it is just at much important for us that our employees feel confortable with what they wear.”

Know who’s FAULT it is! If male employees complain about female employees dressing, because they perceive it as disturbing, too sexy or in any other way missleading, make sure to NOT blame the female employee. Explain to the complain giver that you are a feminist employer and don’t accept any complaints like that. Furthermore support the female employee in her position and make her feel confortable with her dressing.

Women in customerservice positions often have to suffer from sexualisation. They are often not taken serious and get flirted with. Often they are called sexualised and indiscreet nicknames like missy, darling, baby …. This phenomenon is often seen with waitresses, flight attendants, service desk employees and so on. Those situations are very uncomfortable and offensive to the female employees.

ACTION is needed!

Maybe you don’t even know if women in your company are suffering from this problem, BUT you should find out now!

YOUR BONUS:

Affected women feel uncomfortable and may resign to find a different position, in which they suffer less from sexualisation.

THAT DOESN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN.

Three Tips:

HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Inform the female employees that they are NOT expected to accept this behaviour. Some employees maybe think that it is part of their job to deal with this indiscreet behaviour or that they even have to accept the flirting to increase customer satisfaction. Explain in meetings that the employees are free to report indiscreet and sexualised comments or behaviour from customers.

Make room for complaints!

For example:

• Design an anonymous online forum, where the employees can report their complaints.
• Set meetings, in which everyone can discuss current problems or specific customers, which create uncomfortable situations for the female employees.

Inform your customers that you don’t accept any indiscreet and sexualised behaviour towards your female employees in customer service. You can hang up signs in customer service areas and inform on your company’s website.

For example:

“Our customer service experts treat you with respect. We expect you to treat them with respect too.”

“We are a feminist company. We won’t accept any indiscreet behaviour towards our employees.”

Many people (especially men) don’t identify with the word FEMINISM because they see it as the opposite of SEXISM; they believe feminists promote the superiority of women over men and that it is a movement from which only women can benefit. To be fair, in the previous articles we talked about what feminism can do to help women overcome the discriminations they face daily. Feminism is something that was created by women and for women, since they are the most oppressed category, but this doesn’t mean that men don’t need it.

The patriarchal society damages also males, and one of the main ways is through the concept of TOXIC MASCULINITY. What is it?

Our society imposes men a list of imperative characteristics they need to fulfill in order to be “alpha” , in order to be considered REAL MEN. Little boys are told not to show emotions (“don’t cry, don’t be like a girl”) except for aggressive emotions. Boys are taught to be the strongest, the most assertive, the most successful and so on; there is no space for empathy, sensibility and kindness. In this way our society has raised men that are not able to talk about their emotions and to express their feelings, to show their weaknesses, and to disagree with the “pack”. There is the constant pressure to be perfect.

Overcoming the problems related to toxic masculinity would require a long process of cultural and social change, however, employers can still do something to improve the situation for their male employees and so for everyone.

Don’t let the toxicity spread, SPEAK OUT. If you witness toxic behaviors don’t remain silent, as an employer you have the duty to intervene and implement punishments.

Kill the “work in excess, no excuses” culture, as an employer allow men the possibility to find time for their families and themselves (Read our article about paternity leave https://feminismatwork.business.blog/2020/02/01/dont-be-dummy-support-the-mummy-but-be-not-baddy-think-first-bout-daddy/(opens in a new tab)).

Include DIVERSITY WORKSHOPS with professional educators to open the conversation about the issue and offer emotional and professional support. It’s important to learn that there is not just one right way to be MEN.

Encourage your employees to share their feelings and ASK FOR HELP. Teach them that there is no need to feel ashamed and how much they can achieve with a little assistance.

Author: Francesca Asja Trento

DRESSCODE – THE BRA

Next to the regular dresscode, there are also “hidden Dresscode-Expectations”. As an example most woman wear a BRA at work, not because a public dresscode description sees a bra as a requirement, but because they are afraid that NOT WEARING A BRA could be seen as unprofessional, sexualising or even offending. BUT WHY ? We all know that it is not a woman’s obligation to cover up her body, but when it comes to Bras and Nippels many people get unconfortable. Wearing a Bra means for many woman DISCOMFORT and STRESS. The first thing that many women do when coming home is removing their bra.

Why would you want your female employees feel uncomfortable and stressed during work, just because of the BRA?

YOUR BONUS:

When your female employees can decide freely if they wear a bra or not, they will be more relaxed and comfortable and within this their motivation and performance will improve.

HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN:

THREE TIPS:

Make it visible in your “Dresscode description”. Maybe when telling a female employee that she is welcome to come to work wearing no bra, you would be crossing a line. But you should include a formal and direkt description.

An example:

“For our female employees: We DON’T have any unfeminist dresscode obligations like BRAS, HIGH HEELS, SPECIFIC SKIRT LENGHT, etc. in our workplace!”

Know who’s fault it is. If there is a difficulty between a woman and a man in the workplace, because of the female employee isn’t wearing a bra, make visible that you are on the woman’s side. This might be difficult, but it is also important, if the man is a customer or business partner. You don’t need a customer/business partner, who doesn’t respect your female employees. Make sure that you make clear that you completely respect the female employees’ dressing and strenghen her in this matter.

Create a comfort zone for the female employees to discuss matters. Creating a comfort zone, like meetings, group discussions etc. for femal employees will be helpful in different situations. But it is also extremely useful considering the bra-topic. A FEMALE SUPERVISOR can more easily inform about this matter. She can strenghen woman, who got into difficult situations, because of not wearing a bra. And she should recommend to dress comfortable and to decide freely about wearing a bra or not.

• 

To better understand the need to impose gender quotas, you can read our article regarding the concept of GLASS CEILING (https://feminismatwork.business.blog/2020/02/17/lets-break-that-glass-ceiling/(opens in a new tab)). We can summarize it by saying that for women it’s more difficult to climb the career ladder due to the discriminations they face on the workplace.

Consequently Governments decided to establish gender quotas in order to force organizations to reserve a specific amount of charges to women. So for example, if there are 10 open job positions, at least 3 must be assigned to women.

A common objection is that quotas are DISCRIMINATORY because the obligation to employ a certain number of women prevents as many men (that are maybe more qualified) to access the job. The main question is the one of MERITOCRACY.

However, every one of us has cognitive bias, systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment in order to make faster decisions. They are based on beliefs that are already in our brain, without really paying attention to the reality we are facing. One of these bias is that “masculinity is superior to femininity, so men are better than women”, even though statistically women perform better at school. This leads to hiring men more easily and that’s why is powerful positions there are less women.

Imposing quotas is necessary to overcome this bias, without them the 10 open positions would probably be assigned to 10 men, and in this way companies renounce to hire valid women. Quotas are used to set a precedent in order to destroy the cognitive bias. If employers start seeing examples of women that were able to do their job, they will start to believe that they are capable. Eventually, when the prejudice is completely eradicated and recruiting processes are fair, quotas won’t be necessary anymore.

At the same time we need to remember that gender quotas are a MEAN, NOT THE SOLUTION; they simply mitigate the consequences of the systematic discrimination that women face, THEY DO NOT INTERVENE ON THE CAUSES.

What should employers do?

Maintaining MERITOCRACY, which mean that companies should implement fair recruiting processes. You can read our related article (https://feminismatwork.business.blog/2020/02/13/recruit-talent-not-gender/(opens in a new tab) ).

Implement TRAINING WORKSHOPS about in order to deconstruct the stereotypes and help members of the organization understand diversity’s significance and how to relate to each other respectfully. In the long term this is the most effective solution that will make quotas unnecessary.

Strive to create a FEMINIST WORKING ENVIRONMENT. Hiring more women is just the first step, employers should subsequently help them in fulfilling their potential by creating the adequate environment (which means implementing the tips suggested in our articles). In this way women will be able to truly prove themselves.

Author: Francesca Asja Trento

Are 90 % of your employees female? If yes, then you NEED to be a feminist company, obviously.

Now, a different scenario: What if the 90% are actually male? In that case, is it still a necessity to be a “feminist-oriented” organization? OBVIOUSLY!

Against all math rules and norms, 1% matters as much 90% when it comes to fighting for women’s rights at the workplace. Little does it matter if you are a progressive leader of a fashion startup who hires mostly females, or a more conservative-minded manager of a tech company where the percentage of female employees barely reaches 5% . Little does it matter, because 1 woman deserves equal rights not any less than 58 women.  

We know that our readers care about practical implementation the most; and probably many of you have started wondering: “Is it actually possible to position the company as a feminist one if the significant majority of employees are male?” The answer is YES. Here is how you can do it:

• BE VOCAL. Do not be afraid to talk about your feminist values in front of your male employees. That includes your company’s values, but also your personal ones. You need to transmit the right mentality into the minds of the male workers.

• ENGAGE. Send your employees, be it a male or a female, to social and professional events organized by women and/or for women. Show that for you and your company it does not matter if you have 20 or 2 female employees, you are still out there, caring enough to invest resources into women’s engagement and growth.   

• DON’T BE AFRAID TO “OVERDO IT”. The fewer women work at your company the more important it is to make sure they feel perfectly comfortable in a pre-dominantly male environment; Because the more satisfied those few female employees are, the more willing they will be to tell the world what a great employer you are. So, it is a win-win.

Women can fight for their rights on their own, all by themselves. And trust me, sooner or later we will win the battle for equality. But in today’s world, if, as a CEO and/or a manager, you do not actively support this movement for your female employees’ empowerment, then, you are a bad leader. Thus, it is your responsibility to codify the rights and embed them into your company’s culture.

BE A GREAT LEADER – SHOW THAT YOU CARE ABOUT THE 1% JUST AS MUCH AS YOU CARE ABOUT THE 90%. .  

According to recent statistics, unfortunately, the working environment continues to be the place where a woman could find herself having to deal with directed sexual harassment and quid-pro-quo harassment. But what is meant by sexual harassment? ‘Sexual harassment’ is any form of unwelcome sexual behaviour that is OFFENSIVE, HUMILIATING or INTIMIDATING. What is important is how the conduct in question was perceived and experienced by the recipient rather than the intention behind it. Sexual harassment is not only related to actions, but it can also manifest itself with words and gestures. In other words, sexual harassment does not necessarily require physical aggression. It’s essential to remember that sexual harassment in the workplace is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED BY THE LAW, which is why your employer is legally obliged to protect you from this kind of discomforts. This is an issue of the first priority, especially for businesses, since abusers do not only harm their own victims, but they also adversely affect the firm, coworkers and productivity. If aggressions are revealed when it’s too late, the reputational and mediatic damage to the firm will be devastating. But what should an employer do in order to deal with such a pressing challenge? Here are a few tips that may be the answer:

It’s important to prevent and to inform, through instruments involving ALL THE PARTIES concerned (employer, worker, coworkers, trade unions, trade associations…), in order to bring out and handle the phenomenon.

To create a SOLID ALLIANCE between employers and workers, in order to instil confidence in the victims of harassment and prevent the phenomenon.

To establish a sort of “ETHICS PACT” involving everyone and providing training courses on sexual harassment within companies and victim support. These knowledge paths should be handled by experienced professionals.

To create a LEADING FIGURE within the company, who you can turn to in case of sexual harassment.

Author: Anna Zavan

We talk about GLASS CEILING every time we find ourselves in a situation where power roles are reserved for men. In most organizations, the more we go up, the less women we find. It is as if women had a transparent ceiling over their heads that prevents them from advancing in their careers beyond a certain level. It is an invisible ceiling because there aren’t actual laws that forbid women to become CEOs and so on, but in real life there are really a few of them. Research shows that, although there are more women than men in universities and women graduate more and with better grades, in the highest levels of an organization the percentage of women is 10-20%. Just think about that: among 190 Heads of State only 9 are women. Between all the Parliamentarians in the world, only the 13% are women. Between the male senior managers 2/3 have children, while only 1/3 of female senior managers has children. These numbers haven’t changed since 2002, so it is a stationary situation

The question is: WHY? A pretty simple answer can be found in our society, which is sexist and misogynistic, so it is sadly normal that there are less women than men that have prestigious roles. But there is also another more interesting answer that doesn’t make us feel hopeless and gives us the possibility to do something. This answer is the one that Sheryl Sandberg gave. Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook, also called “Mark Zuckerberg’s number 2”; she wrote a book called “Lean in” in which she explains the three rules that women should follow to break that glass ceiling. There is something we can do as women; we should not give up and accept that this is our society: 

1. SIT AT THE TABLE. If women don’t do that first, who will take them into consideration?  

2. MAKE YOUR PARTNER A REAL PARTNER: if a man and a woman have kids, usually the woman does the double amount of housework compared to the man and takes care of the baby three times more. Obviously, a situation like this has a huge effect on the working reality. If he is a partner, he should be a real one, work should be equally distributed. 

3. DON’T LEAVE BEFORE YOU LEAVE. When a woman starts thinking about having kids, usually she stops looking for a promotion and accepting new projects even if she is not pregnant yet. It’s important not to stop before it’s the right time to stop, especially because, after the baby is born, going back to work will be hard. 

Personal effort is vital, but if we really want to break the glass ceiling organizational help is fundamental. What should employers do in this case? 

OPEN THE CONVERSATION about this issue, ask people and especially women about their experiences and look for suggestions for improvements  

RECOGNIZE AND CHANGE GENDER BIAS in order to avoid unconscious discrimination. Whenever employers find themselves making assumptions about women’s professional capabilities, it is important that they ask themselves the following questions: “Is it true?” “Is it always true?” “What evidence do I have?” If the answer is “No” reconsider the assumption and challenge it for the future.

REVIEW RECRUITMENT AND PROMOTION PRACTICES, since those are the areas where the glass ceiling is stronger: hire and promote with diversity as the main goal 

HELP PARENTS: make it easier both for men and women to take time off after the birth or adoption of a child  (read more on our article dedicated to paternity leave:https://feminismatwork.business.blog/2020/02/01/dont-be-dummy-support-the-mummy-but-be-not-baddy-think-first-bout-daddy/(opens in a new tab))

CLOSE THE GENDER PAY GAP (read more on our article dedicated to gender pay gap: https://feminismatwork.business.blog/2020/02/06/gender-pay-gap-what-it-is-and-how-to-fix-it/(opens in a new tab))

Author: Francesca Asja Trento

SMART Interview- and Recruitingprocess

It is extremely difficult to guarantee a fair and objective Recruiting process, simply because it is not natural for humans to make completely fair and objective decisions. And sadly it is a fact that very often WOMEN suffer from this SUBJECTIVE point of view and have a lower chance to get employed during the recruiting process than their male colleagues. Woman are often considered as the weaker gender, that has less abilities and skills, f.e. when dealing with numbers/mathematics or in leader/ CEO positions. BUT of course this is NONSENSE!

PICK THE BEST, FORGET THE REST

BONUS FOR YOU:

It is known that “Girls do better than boys at A-levels (or Highers in Scotland), and indeed at every level of education (BBC News, 18.08.2016, Hannah Richadson) and “Women are […] more than a third more likely to go to university than men.” (The Guardian, 28.06.2017, Press Assosiation).

Following some simple tips, you will be able to recruite the most talented applicants, no matter what their gender is.

Three Tips:

Tell applicants what you want: Talent, Skill and Commitment, independent from gender, disability, religion and so on. And include these values in the Job description

For example:

“We are looking for smart and technology interested Talents. We know that Skill and Talent has nothing to do with your Gender. We are looking for femal applicants, just as much as we are looking for male applicants. It is ONLY your talent, skill and commitment that counts for us! We are excited to meet YOU, whatever gender, religion, … you have. “

Cut the GENDER out of your decision process! If recruiters don’t know what gender the applicant has, they won’t be biased. – It’s that simple!

Accept only applications without gender-information, name and picture. If you don’t want to decide on the basis of gender, name or looking, why would you want it on the application? (Of course, write in your job description that you want this information to be excluded)

Have different point of views in your Interview process! Of course during the Interview-process the recruiters will know the applicants gender.

If you have at least two different recruiters in the Interview, you have at least two different points of views AND a lower risk to have a subjective final-decision. For example a femal and a male recruiter could help to have a less gender biased decision.

As a forward-looking, progressive boss you want to create and manage a workplace where the employees are always inspired and motivated, where women do not feel discriminated but powerful and respected. But are you sure that you know all the reasons of women’s poor experiences at a workplace? It might come as a surprise to some, but according to recent statistics (2019), a woman’s age can have a more negative impact on her work experience than the issues such as race, marital status, body shape, etc.

While men earn respect and become “experts” as they age, women become “weaker” and more “emotional”, and “less motivated”, and “miss out” on the latest skill sets required to succeed. You might nod your head in disbelief, but there are still many managers and CEOs who believe these absurd gender stereotypes related to ageism.

So, the question of the day is HOW TO FIGHT AGEISM?

• Educate your employees to ensure they are up to date with the necessary skills and industry requirements.  Without separating men from women, organize bi-monthly workshops or master-classes to engage employees aged 40+.

• Do not ever distribute tasks based on employees’ age. By assuming that someone lacks the energy/drive/knowledge/experience you are spreading the separatist vibes, virtually dividing your employees. Instead, UNITE them by assigning the tasks without any regard to the age. Be more demanding when needed.

You should foster the spirit of endless self-development, you must motivate people to strive for more, don’t let your female employees feel useless because of age.

• Openly demonstrate how much you value the “aged” women. Make your appreciation explicit. Do not be afraid to promote a woman who is older than 45, do not hesitate to hire a woman who is not in her 20s anymore.

Dare to be kind and inclusive, and you will see the productivity of your company rise. Because women age as the fine wine – only better with each passing year!

“I was working at Tumblr at the time. I’d been hired along with another editor; we would be co-editors, I was told. Which was sort of true, except that I had accepted the job before we had finalised my title. I was informed, casually, that he’d chosen the title of editor-in-chief. As in: the highest possible title a person in our field could hold. (I’d gone for “executive editor”.) I had been sneak-attacked with a surprise boss, and that boss was a dude. People looked at him, not me, in meetings.”

–This is an extract from Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual (For A Sexist Workplace), by Jessica Bennett; spotted on the website of The Guardian.

We might often see similar “survival manuals” targeted at the female audience. The question is how much can women change on their own? Can the victim truly influence the predator? Can she change his behavior once and for all? The fight has been going on for a while now, and no matter how many legislative procedures and legal and social rules are modified, in most cases men who are anti-feminist will always try to find a way to justify their behavior.
The man on his own is responsible for embracing the rights and freedoms, the power and talents of a woman, in order to become capable of a respectful and fair treatment that she deserves. So, it is not a job of the potential victims to try protecting themselves or proving that they are equal to the male colleagues. It is the job of the boss. Now, how to communicate all this to the employees?

What can a male CEO do?

• Organize and chair weekly talk-sessions with the employees. Once a week invite only the male staff, and once a week mix the sexes. That way you will be able to establish a closer contact and trust with the men who will grow to respect your opinions and listen to your pro-feminist propaganda more eagerly, but also by including the women you will emphasize the importance of “togetherness” as opposed to the separatism.

• Openly show your support to women by giving them tasks that are as challenging as the tasks you give to your male employees.

What can a female CEO do?

• Do not try to be a friend-boss. You need to have an “iron-hand” to demonstrate that the gender stereotype of “soft” and “emotional” woman is not true.

• Be equally hard on male and female employees, because if men notice an obvious favoritism towards women, the feeling of unfairness and reverse discrimination will trigger only discontent and exasperation in them.

For both CEO genders:

• Be clear on your company’s values of equality, but more importantly CLOSELY MONITOR the day-to-day routines. Even the smallest actions that one may deem unimportant can be a sign that your workplace is not female-friendly. In the extract given at the beginning of this article, we can clearly see the mistake of the CEO, who on the surface seems to not prioritize men by allowing them to “choose” their own titles, but what ends up happening is unfair to the woman, while the CEO is sort of not to blame. Do not make the same mistake; take into account the small things, the unofficial actions and talk, because as long as these actions and words have even the tiniest connection to your company, IT IS YOUR BUSINESS.

Maternity and Paternity leave – Is a must care topic!!

The trouble starts already when recruiters choose Man over Woman, because of the fear of losing the woman’s working hours during the Maternity leave. But as a smart and responsible organisation you must be able to not be biased by this.
Start NOW! And make clear that in your company Maternity and Paternity leave have the same importance, frequence and meaning.

YOUR BONUS:
* You may miss out on some very successful, smart and profitable female employees if your recruiters are biased: YOU CAN SET AN END ON THIS!
* And IMAGINE being one of the first companies that have an equal amount of Maternity and Paternity leaves! You’ll become a BIG NAME in the media, highly ATTRACTIVE for new, open minded applicants and PROFITS will rise, because EVERYONE will KNOW YOUR COMPANY!!!

Three Tips
HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

SHOW IT ON YOUR WEBSITE
In your values, statements, job descriptions and news, let people know what you think about Maternity and Paternity leaves.
Some Examples:
„Our company supports Paternity leave just as much as Maternity leave, because we want the NEW GENERATION to have a positive, caring and present father figure!“
„You love challenges? – Do a Paternity leave!“
„We support our Moms to do a Maternity leave AND We support our Dads to do a Paternity leave!“
„Your kids need their dad just as much as they need their mom! – They need YOU!“

COMMUNICATE WITH SOON TO BE DADS
Male employees should know that Paternity leave is NOT just an option, but something to be proud of.
Some examples:
„Taking a Paternity leave means that you as a Dad will be more involved in your kids life. You probably regret it, if you don’t take this opportunity.“
„Paternity leave is your chance to release pressure from your wife/woman. After the pregnancy she maybe wants to stick to a more regular schedule. Don’t forget, childcare is a lot of work.“
„This is a chance to build a strong bond between you and your child. You can have a huge influence on your child, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity.“

COMMUNICATE WITH SOON TO BE MOMS
When a woman is pregnant in your company, at the begging of employment or in meetings: Communicate!
Some examples:
„We offer the same career opportunities to men and women and as a very successful part of our company, you should not hesitate to take these opportunities! Let your man support you by doing a paternity leave!“
„Gender roles are nowadays not important. Relieve your child from typical gender roles and let it grow up knowing that men can do childcare and household just as good as women can.“
„XY’s husband is currently doing a paternity leave and both are very happy. I’ll set you a meeting with XY so you can have informations and experience from first hand.“

BUT DON’T FORGET, THAT IT IS EVERYONE’S OWN DECISION HOW TO HANDLE MATERNITY AND PATERNITY LEAVE, DON’T PUT PRESSURE ON YOUR EMPLOYEES, BUT BE SMART AND INFORMATIVE.

Author: Celine Landgraf