The research, by Harvard Business School Associate Professor Katherine B. Coffman reveals businesses can draw more women applicants by making it easier for candidates to know whether they’re qualified. This involves getting rid of vague language about the experience and skills required in job postings and listing more precise qualifications.  

“We found that candidates were talented, and yet they self-selected out,” said Coffman, whose research study was inspired by a commonly quoted statistic: Men apply for a job when they meet only 60 per cent of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100 per cent of them.

Coffman and her research team set out to provide empirical evidence to this age-old statistic by first running experimental ads on freelance job platform UpWork. 

The first ads called for expertise in stereotypically male-dominated domains, and used fairly generic and vague language: “We are looking for candidates with [management expertise/experience in analytical thinking], as demonstrated through education, past work experience, and test scores. Successful applicants will also have strong writing and communication skills.” 

The research team offered an “intermediate” position, as well as an “expert” track that was considered more challenging but also came with more pay. Candidates had to choose which position to apply for, if any.

Just 6 per cent of women applied for the expert job, compared to 22 per cent of qualified men. 

Conversely, when the ad language was changed to provide clear guidance on the required qualifications, more women applicants (29 per cent) responded. The ‘clear guidance’ included asking candidates for an exact threshold of analytical or management UpWork test scores to apply to the advanced position. 

Coffman’s team then repeated the experiment on the research platform Prolific to clarify the results, which turned out to be similar to the UpWork study. Only 42 per cent of qualified women applied when vague job qualification language was used, compared to 56 per cent of men. And when specific guidance was given, the per cent of women applicants jumped up to 62 per cent.

In light of these results, Coffman offers some advice for hiring managers looking to attract more female candidates to their job postings: steer clear of vague qualifications, state the amount of experience and the skills candidates should possess, as well as actively recruit qualified female candidates, rather than waiting for people to apply. 

The advice is imperative for businesses as the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Gender Gap Report has declared only slow and steady gains for the proportion of women hired to leadership positions in the past eight years (a rate of just one per cent annually, that dropped to just 32 per cent in the first quarter of 2023). 

The data also shows women represent 46 per cent of entry-level roles, but then only 25 per cent of C-Suite roles. And the Global Gender Gap is also still 131 years away from closing. 

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Rather, she thinks about her days as having 24 hours that she can balance between her personal and work lives, and her weeks as seven days that can also be carved up. 

Working across different timezones for Microsoft, she still works more than a 40-hour week but will take time out during the day for a few hours to do something else and catch up on the weekend.

Once a quarter, she blocks out a week where she puts herself on “leave from meetings” to focus on the big picture. She uses the time to focus on strategy, as well as team development and getting across the latest trends in the industry. 

As Director, Specialty Technology Unit at Microsoft, this approach to work is one Wise shares with her team, encouraging them to find what works best for them and being honest about how it’s working out for her.  

“I’m transparent about my challenges and success, and this gives them permission to do the same,” Wise tells Women’s Agenda.  

Microsoft’s approach to hybrid work and flexibility is bucking the trend of the push to get employees back to the office Monday to Friday. Team members can choose between working remotely for less than 50 per cent of their normal work week, or they can work remotely 100 per cent of the time if they have manager approval. 

The flex work policy is centred around recognising individual needs and promoting work-life balance. It also aims to support employees to work during the hours that are best for them in delivering according to expectations. It supports wellbeing and adaptability, but also productivity in recognising that people have individual approaches to getting their best work done. 

A blog post published more than four years ago by Kathleen Hogan, Executive Vic President and Chief People Officer, outlining the approach to flexibility still stands – again bucking the trend of some other tech firms to increasingly get people back to working in more traditional ways. “Moving forward,” she wrote in October 2021, “it is our goal to offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture,” 

Increasingly, we’re seeing how workers want the best of both worlds when it comes to remote working and time spent in the office. Microsoft describes this as the “hybrid paradox”, noting figures from its 2021 Work Trends Index, a study of more than 31,000 workers in 31 countries, finding that 70 per cent of workers wanted flexible work to stay, but more than 65 per cent craved having more face to face time with their teams. 

For Elena Wise, staying flexible on how and when she works enables her to get the most out of her time, and to be constantly thinking about the future. She’ll dedicate headspace for planning, thinking and learning, and try to block out Mondays as meeting-free days – unless she needs to travel or there’s an urgent issue. “I use this time to get on top of key actions for the week ahead, and to upskill on some of our latest AI training, which really helps given how quickly the technology is moving.” 

With a career spanning some of the world’s largest organisations and biggest markets, including AMEX, PayPal and Google and ten years spent in Japan, Wise has developed her work style to be able to respond to needs across international borders. 

Asked how she establishes herself in new cities and markets, she recalls making her first international move and being given the advice always to give such a move at least six months because wherever you go, you’ll need time to adjust culturally and there will be times when you just want to pull the pin. “Patience is key,” she says. “Building relationships and trust is crucial and learning from different perspectives enriches your experience.” 

Wise says she spends time meeting people one-on-one both in work and social contexts, joining local business chambers, clubs and expat groups, and notes the importance of staying connected with current past colleagues and contacts. 

Wise is a pioneering woman in tech, now one of Microsoft’s most senior leaders in Australia and having spent years in senior leadership positions, including as country manager and GM Japan of PayPal and Country Manager of Google Technical Services in Japan and Korea. 

Looking broadly across the tech industry, she wants to see more companies pushing the focus beyond diversity and hiring to focus on inclusion, and understand women’s needs and perspectives. 

“There is a need to provide flexibility and tools for women to work in ways that suit their personal and professional goals, and not expect them to fit into rigid or traditional, often male-dominated or male-created, models,” she says. 

Wise wants to see more male allies getting involved in women’s networks and agendas to understand the experiences women have. She highlights one particularly positive experience of this at Microsoft, where she is seeing strong interest from male employees seeking guidance or support for partners experiencing menopause, which is one of the areas their Families Employee Resource Group is currently focusing on. 

“Companies in all sectors need to support women throughout their life cycle better, not just when they are having children, but also when they are caring for elderly parents, managing illness, or experiencing menopause, for example,” she says. 

Just as there is no one working style that will work for everyone, there is no set communication style for leading a successful team. 

“As leaders, we need to adapt our language and approach for different audiences/team members to help get the best outcomes – be those different genders, cultural backgrounds, or generational adjustments.”

Women’s Agenda spoke to Elena Wise to learn more about flexible work, thanks to our partnership with Family Friendly Workplaces.

This year Microsoft will be measuring their policies against the National Work + Family Standards as part of the Family Friendly Workplace Certification, having been certified for the previous two years already. Microsoft says it’s important employers pursue family-friendly workplace accreditation to demonstrate a commitment to work-life balance, gender equality, and employee well-being, and also for attracting and retaining the best talent and enhancing a company’s reputation. 

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Yet reports that some large companies are considering doing just that have begun circulating as employers fight to bring people back on site for at least 50 percent of the time.

Late last year, an internal memo to ANZ staff, shared by The Aussie Corporate Instagram page, showed the bank cracking down on staff who worked from home more than half the time.

It warned that if employees didn’t “meet the standards expected [of 50 per cent attendance], it may factor into your performance rating and PRR [Performance and Remuneration Review] outcomes at the end of the FY24 year.”

More recently, PwC’s UK boss warned that young workers who don’t come into office at least four times a week will be replaced with artificial intelligence.

The threat to link on-site work to performance, the pay packet — and even to keeping one’s job — is a sign that post Covid 19 lockdowns, both employers and employees are struggling to find the right balance between working on-site and remotely.

“There is no one simple answer to this,” says Dr Fiona Macdonald, policy director at the industrial and social department at the Centre for Future Work.

“While some employees are happy to go into the office a few days a week, in some places people don’t want to be in the office at all. It’s pretty problematic for organisations in how they manage that.”

While many organisations continue to include flexible work policies following the pandemic years of 2020 to 2022, the creep of presenteeism and messages that those working from home may suffer from being “out of sight and out of mind”, as well as being seen as less productive, are intensifying in some sectors.

“We have organisations which are overwhelmingly staffed by men, and while I don’t think most men consciously think they don’t want women in their workplace, there is definitely less understanding about people’s life circumstances if you don’t have diversity,” says Macdonald.

And while for many the model to return to working how we used to — 9 to 5, on-site — seems easier to implement, experts believe companies need to move beyond that and try harder to offer flexibility.

“It’s well past the time where we’re thinking workplaces need to be based on male models of working in the 1970s,” Macdonald says, but points out that many workplaces have not been structured around hybrid and flexible work.

“Managers haven’t been training to think about it,” she adds. “It takes effort to figure out how to organise staff who are working remotely some of the time, and what is the best way to get them to come together and work well as a team.”

The problem is that the “cat’s out of the bag” when it comes to hybrid working, with people now expecting some degree of leniency from their bosses. For many women, the flex work policies implemented during Covid were a godsend, and enabled a much more reasonable work-life balance.

Demanding that staff return to work physically will disproportionately impact those with caring responsibilities (usually women), says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO at Australian HR Institute.

“Rigid office attendance requirements might inadvertently create barriers to workplace participation for those with caring responsibilities, who we know are more likely to be women.”

Families and home life have always adapted to organisations, points out Macdonald: maybe it’s time that organisations adapt a little to life. Men also need to get on board and fight for the right to hybrid work.

“If we want more men to do more caring, men need to be demanding these changes too,” she says. “Unfortunately change comes slowly: it’s two steps forward, one step back”. 

Fortunately, some data suggests the situation is not quite so gloomy. McCann-Bartlett points to AHRI’s most recent survey, which, after talking to 452 employers, found that while more employers are specifying how many days a week employees should work on-site, most (that can) are maintaining a hybrid work model.

“Very few employers are requiring employees to return to the physical workplace five days a week,” says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO at Australian HR Institute. “AHRI’s research shows that in 2023, only 7 per cent of employers required full time employees to attend physically all five days”.

The research also found that nearly all (97 per cent) of organisations offered some form of flexible working arrangement aside from hybrid working, such as  part-time work (85 per cent); flexi time (53 per cent); compressed hours or compressed working weeks (45 per cent); and career breaks (44 per cent).

Senior lecturer in work and organisational studies at the University of Sydney Business School, Dr Meraiah Foley, believes organisations are “finding themselves in a pickle trying to work out what is the right balance between having people physically present to build culture, foster innovation and help train new graduates, and allowing the kind of flexibility people have become used to”.

“People like working remotely and having autonomy and flexibility, and in many instances, people aren’t returning to their workplace to the extent organisations would like them to,” she tells Women’s Agenda.

Seemingly every week, cases about “battles” between employees and employers fighting for balance are aired in public, including a sales rep being awarded $26,000 in compensation after being fired by his employer over “lack of commitment” for working from home on compulsory on-site days; a scientist failing to get his job back following the sack for secretly working overseas; and Fair Work upholding that a remote working lawyer was unfairly fired for trawling music, books, comic and PlayStation websites while on the clock.

Foley says any organisations that plan to dock pay based on office attendance are extremely problematic, and a return to the “idea that productivity is time spent in the office… and not based on outputs and outcomes”.

“It’s also extremely problematic from a gender equality perspective, as it’s just going to reward people who don’t have caring responsibilities or who have the capacity to work long hours,” she adds.

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While Ciccone thanked his parliamentary colleagues for creating a “family-friendly environment” in the Senate and encouraged other fathers to bring their kids to work, the fact Ciccone’s proud, baby-holding moment came seven years after Senator Larissa Waters became the first federal politician to bring her baby into the senate was a subtle reminder of the lag that remains in men accessing family-friendly workplace policies. 

This issue could be addressed thanks to changes in how workplaces are required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 

Most of us are well aware that the gender pay gaps of employers will be made public on the 27th of February when WGEA publishes such data from firms with 100 or more employees. But this is just one of several changes impacting workplaces that will ultimately affect employees with family responsibilities, thanks to the passage of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023, aimed at enabling more accountability and transparency on workplace gender equality. 

From April 1, employers who report to WGEA (those with 100 or more team members) will be required to answer new mandatory questions and provide CEO pay details and remuneration numbers for those in Head of Business and Casual Manager roles. These employers will also be required to report on sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex or discrimination. 

Employers with more than 500 or more team members must go a step further. In addition to providing the above details, these employers must include details of their policy or strategy for each of the six gender equality indicators. 

The six Gender Equality Indicators include: 

1. Gender composition of the workforce 
2. Gender composition of governing bodies
3. Equal remuneration between women and men 
4. Availability and utility of employment terms, flexible working arrangements, & support for family & caring responsibilities
5. Consultation with employees on gender equality in the workplace 
6. Sexual harassment, including harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination. 

WGEA has long aimed to address all six of these indicators in their reporting requirements, but these new changes will mark the first time that employers are required to have policies or strategies in place that address all of them in some way. 

All six play an important part in enabling gender equality, but the fourth GEI is particularly interesting for bringing down barriers those with family and caring responsibilities continue to come up against. 

The key word in this indicator is “utility”. Making flexible working arrangements and various support for family and caring responsibilities available is always a good step, but the more difficult and important step is ensuring such support mechanisms are actually used. This means directly reporting the number of employees using such policies and breaking it down according to areas like job level, gender and other relevant metrics. 

The results of WGEA’s 2022-23 Census, launched in November 2023, highlight the opportunity for stronger progress on areas like workplace flexibility and providing greater support to families. 

One area is on paid parental leave, where employers are increasingly evolving their policies to offer better primary and secondary carer leave, as well as much stronger initiatives around removing labels altogether to offer the same amount of leave to all new parents. But the uptick in men taking leave is not moving fast enough.  There was little change in the proportion of men taking paid parental leave in WGEA’s 2022-23 Census results, rising just 0.6 per cent to 14 per cent of those taking employer-funded paid primary carer’s leave. 

And while there has been significant progress around workplace flexibility in recent years, the WGEA results show that part time work is still being penalised when it comes to promotions and opportunities. Just seven per cent of management roles are part time, indicating a “part time promotions gap” which is a problem, particularly for women, given thirty per cent of women work part time. 

While employers have been making progress against most of the six gender equality indicators since 2013-14, when WGEA reporting requirements began, the progress is too slow. The game-changer now is for employers to report on their policies and how such policies and initiatives are actually being utilised, effectively measuring their impact on closing the gap.

At Family Friendly Workplaces, we’ve seen the power of recording and tracking the effectiveness of family-inclusive policies and practices to support employees in combining work and family commitments. Collecting such evidence sees family-friendly workplace policies and practices evolving to meet an organisation’s ESG and gender equality targets. Family-friendly policies, including flexible work, modern paid parental leave, inclusive leadership, family care and wellbeing initiatives, ultimately support gender equality efforts while making the workplace better for everything. 

Senator Raff Ciccone is one of countless dads keen on taking up workplace policies to make their work more family-friendly. In Ciccone’s case, Senate rules changed in 2016 to end a ban on children entering the house during divisions. The focus then was on allowing female MPs to breastfeed in the chamber, but really it’s an opportunity for all new parents to care for their children during the long proceedings when needed, and to also nomalise the mix of family and work for everyone. 

One thing is for certain, workplaces will need to stay ahead of the curve by by embracing family-friendly policies to improve gender equality outcomes to close the gap. 

You can read Family Friendly Workplaces’ free guide on transforming family-friendly policies and practices into gender equality solutions here. 

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The survey, funded by the Department of Social Services, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) and managed by the Melbourne Institute, found that in the four weeks leading up to this year’s survey, almost one in five women reported working when they were physically unwell, while 16.8 per cent of employed men said they worked while feeling physically unwell. 

Roughly the same number of women reported working when they were mentally unwell, while just 11.1 per cent of men did the same. 

Those with a moderate or severe disability or in poor mental health were also much more likely to work when unwell. 

The 18th Annual Statistical Report of the HILDA Survey is a nationally representative longitudinal study of Australian households, following the lives of more than 17,000 Australians each year since 2001. 

Collecting information on many aspects of life in Australia, including household and family relationships, income and employment, and health and education, this year’s survey revealed some startling trends for women. Here, we look at a few of them. 

Working conditions

Men were less likely than women to be primarily working from home, the latest study found. In 2019, a mere 3.5 per cent per cent of people worked entirely from home, and 6.5 per cent worked at least 50 per cent of the time from home. In 2021, the figures shot up to 17.7 per cent and 24.3 respectively. 

The industries with the highest number of people mainly working from home are financial and insurance services, information media and telecommunications. Meanwhile, those working in retail, hospitality, education and arts were less likely to be working from home. 

The study also found a link between the number of employed parents and their use of formal child care. Unemployed mothers were less likely to seek formal child care. Unemployed fathers also lead to a decrease in using child care services, however the percentage reduced was much lower. 

The study concluded that the reason for these associations could either be that full-time employment could lead to the use of formal child care, or that having access to formal child care can be a precondition to seeking full time paid employment. 

The number of women in paid employment has also risen, especially in the group aged 65 to 69, where currently, one in four are employed.

Roughly 40 per cent of women aged between 18-64 are now employed full-time, while the proportion of men in that age group continue to be largely employed full time (70 per cent).

The gender pay gap is also slowly shrinking. In 2016, women earned just 78 per cent of what men earned. The latest study showed that now, women earn approximately 86 per cent of what men earn — still an extremely problematic figure. 

The average earnings made by a woman has also risen, though not to the heights of men. In 2021, the average female earning rose to 75 per cent of male average earnings, an increase from 2001 of 66 per cent. 

Marriage

Fewer Australians are now deciding to walk down the aisle compared to a few decades ago. The percentage of women who were married in 2001 was 54.5 per cent. In 2021, that number dropped down to 48.2 per cent. 

More women are now opting to be in de facto relationships. Between 2001 to 2021, the percentage went from 8.9 per cent to 14.3 per cent. Similar figures were found with men. 

The largest cohort of Australians who have decided to waive marriage are those aged between 25 to 34. Generally, less people are partnering up in conventional, romantic relationships. 

Between 2002 to 2004, 31.1 per cent of men and 26.8 per cent of women self-identified as being in a romantic relationship. Between the 2014 to 2016 period, that figure dropped to 26.7 per cent of men and 23.7 per cent of women. 

When it comes to self-assessed relationship satisfaction, women aged 40 to 59 reported lower relationship satisfaction than their male counterparts. 

Last year’s HILDA study already charted a growing number of Australians drifting away from living with their intimate partner. Dr Esperanza Vera-Toscano, an economist and senior research fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, attributed the “qualitative shift in our understanding of family” to a progressive framework of thinking.

“We need get used to the fact that the traditional pathway of meeting someone, having a relationship that ends up in marriage and children, has changed,” she said. “There are other situations that need to be brought into the picture. It’s important we understand them.”

Loneliness and psychological distress

Those aged between 15-24 now encompass the highest portion of lonely individuals. In the period between 2001 and 2009, the greatest proportion of lonely people were those aged 65 and older. 

The study’s co-author Dr Ferdi Botha, said “There is a clear trend of younger people becoming lonelier and feeling more isolated as time goes on.” 

“If there aren’t actions taken or policies implemented to intervene, we may see loneliness and psychological distress increasing in the younger generations and this may lead to lower mental and physical wellbeing and other wider societal issues,” he said in a statement. 

“Loneliness increased in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but for young people, there is a longer-term trend increase apparent. It may be that this is partly connected to growth in smart phones and social media use.” 

People in the youngest age cohort (15-24) also reported the highest average distress scores, with 42.3 per cent of them reporting they were psychologically distressed in 2021. Women aged 15 to 24 reported higher levels of distress than older women in the 35 to 54 and 65 and over age category, showing that the average psychological distress levels declined with age. 

Overall, women also reported higher levels of psychological distress. Between 2007 to 2021, the prevalence of psychological distress among women increased by roughly 63 per cent. In 2021, almost one in three women said they were in distress, compared to 22.7 per cent of men. The study measured participants’ psychological distress by asking them questions such as, “In the last four weeks, about how often did you feel tired out for no good reasons? Nervous? Hopeless? Depressed?”

Use of prescription drugs in Australia

More women are using strong painkillers than men, the latest study found. Almost thirty per cent of women reported using strong painkillers or pain-relievers with opioids in them, and 14 per cent reported using tranquillisers and/or sleeping pills. 

The strong painkillers may include Tramadol, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, morphine, codeine products such as Panadeine Forte. 

According to the study’s authors, most respondents were using the strong painkillers only infrequently, “…suggesting they are primarily used for temporary relief from pain, anxiety or sleep issues.” 

“However, it is crucial to acknowledge that these drugs have potential negative consequences, such as addiction, overdose and harmful interactions.” 

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The threat comes in response to the right to disconnect laws, which allow workers to take their employers to the Fair Work Commission if they are penalised for failing to respond to out-of-hours contact.  

So is the right to “disconnect” really a victory for the so-called “anti-work culture” movement and a concession to the lazy workers of Australia? Is this the end of productivity as we know it?

Hardly. Rather, it’s an evolution of our times.

Just because we have the tech to be constantly on and available doesn’t mean bosses should expect to receive an immediate response to emails, texts and other forms of messaging. The now archaic Blackberry only found widespread adoption in the past 20 years, while the iPhone was first released in 2007 and arrived in major markets in 2009. Before that, most workers may have been sent emails out of hours, but they didn’t actually receive them until they logged into work, which for many would be at 9am the next morning.

But bosses seem to believe they have given enough away on flexibility to concede on putting limitations around what they can expect from workers outside of the hours they’re being paid to actually work.

Innes Willox, the chief executive of the Australian Industry Group representing big business in Australia, has issued a warning in The Australian newspaper that businesses are preparing for the new laws and, “unfortunately for employees, many are indicating that flexibilities in workplaces such as leaving early to pick up the kids or going to the dentist will be cut back.” 

He says that “flexibility cuts both ways and if employees want to play hardball, they can expect their employer to react accordingly. All of this is both sad and unfortunate.” 

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton is pursuing a curious election strategy, declaring he will repeal reforms and return the right for employers to expect a response from workers when they contacted outside of work hours.

While flexibility has also come a long way in recent years, it’s provided more options for workers to balance work and care responsibilities (across some industries) but it hasn’t cut down the number of hours they’re working. 

Seven in ten workers reported working outside their scheduled hours in a 2022 survey by The Australian Institute. For those that do report doing overtime, almost half (44 per cent) said they were “often” putting in additional hours to meet employer expectations. Thirty-eight per cent of workers said that overtime was an expectation in their workplace. 

And what does all this overtime do to Australians? It results in physical tiredness, according to a third (35 per cent) of workers, as well as stress and anxiety (32 per cent) and being mentally drained (31 per cent). 

Out of work interruptions also affect relationships. They can get in the way of family time and see people cancelling plans with family and friends. Ultimately, one could argue this “always on” mindset might be contributing to poorer physical and mental health outcomes for Australians and even to the loneliness epidemic, given just how much work interruptions have crossed into time otherwise reserved for hobbies, fitness, connecting with friends, spending time with family. How does that make for a productive Australia? 

Rates of psychological distress among young people have more than doubled since 2011 according to new HILDA figures out today, with 42.3 per cent of those aged 15 to 24 reporting they were psychologically distressed. This age group also now accounts for the highest proportion of people reporting loneliness. This group also includes those most likely to be starting a new career, working in more junior positions with less autonomy over their role.

There is still much more to be considered in these new laws; understandably, employers seek to know exactly how they’ll work.

But giving workers a “right to disconnect” won’t kill Australia’s productivity. Rather, it might just improve the lives and outcomes of Australians and their families.

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Released on Wednesday, the data shows nearly 28 per cent of this group cited a lack of access to early childhood education and care as a barrier to employment, due to spots being booked out or inaccessible to them geographically. And 11.1 per cent said it was too expensive. 

The figures add to the mounting evidence of the “motherhood penalty“, the idea that becoming a mum in Australia comes with a high price for women. Last year, Treasury analysis found that women’s earnings falling by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years of parenthood, while men’s earnings are generally unaffected when they enter parenthood.

The ABS survey asked women with children under 15 what would help them in being able to take on a job. The majority (67.6 per cent) said the strongest incentive is the ability to work part-time hours. Many women also cited the ability to work during school hours and 53 per cent cited the ability to vary start and finish times. 

“These findings tell the story of the juggling act that so many women find themselves trying to balance– one that strikes the right balance between feeling financially stable and pursuing parenthood in a way that works for them,” said Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood.

“Unfortunately, the structure of our society is still set up for an era that no longer exists, when dads worked and mums didn’t.

“In modern Australia it takes two incomes for most families to cover a mortgage or the rent, but it takes affordable early childhood education and outside school hours and care to earn two incomes.” 

Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood

Unlocking $128 billion for the Australian economy

This isn’t just a personal issue either. The systemic barriers holding women back from the workforce are costing the Australian economy $128 billion, according to the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce. The tasforce released a final report at the end of last year, looking at how much money could be gained with women’s full and equal participation in economic activity. 

“Women’s economic inequality is so normalised that people assume it is a result of women’s choices, but Australia has the most highly educated female labour force in the world,” the Chair of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, Sam Mostyn AO told the National Press Club back in October. 

Considering this high price for the Australian economy, Dent says that “early childhood education and care centres in Australia should be funded by the government as critical infrastructure”. 

“Early childhood education and paid parental leave must be seen as critical infrastructure. You can’t go to work if you don’t have a road to get there. You can’t go to work if you don’t have an affordable and safe place for your kid. These things are synonymous.”

Gender equal parenting

Last month, The Parenthood launched The Dad’s Alliance Action Plan, showing that Australian men also want to see a cultural shift in which childcare and employment policies permit both parents to share the work and care loads. 

To do this, Dent says The Parenthood wants the Government to remove the Activity Test (a highly criticised requirement for parents to access subsidised early childhood education and care), make childcare more affordable for low and middle income families with young children and develop more early learning centres in regional and remote areas. 

“We also want to see an increase to paid parental leave entitlements for both mothers and fathers, so that less parents feel their care and career trajectories are at odds,” says Dent.

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Labor garnered support from the Greens and the crossbench in the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening, guaranteeing the Bill will come to a final vote in the Senate on Thursday morning.

Last year, the Greens tabled the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) Bill 2023 with similar proposals. While that Bill did not pass, the discussion is back on the government’s agenda.

The Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) Bill 2023 will add the “right to disconnect” after work to the National Employment Standards to “ensure employees are not required to monitor, read or respond to email, telephone calls or any other kinds of communication from an employer outside their working hours”, the explanatory memorandum says.

There are current safeguards in place defining “unreasonable working hours”. SafeWork Australia’s Code of Practice Managing psychosocial hazards at work lists “long, irregular or unpredictable work-hours (e.g. doing shift work or being on call)” as a psychosocial hazard in the workplace.

However, there is currently no specific legislation that gives employees the right to “disconnect” or “switch off” from work.

Similar laws that grant employees those rights exist in several countries around the world, notably France and Germany.

So, how will the laws actually work? We spoke with Fay Calderone, an employment lawyer and partner at Hall & Wilcox, to learn more.

Clearing up the blurred boundaries

Your working hours may be 9-5, but you may find yourself checking emails, answering calls or responding to text messages outside those defined hours.

Under the proposed legislation, you may no longer have to do that.

The changes to the law would not prohibit employers from sending the texts or the emails; rather, it would grant employees the right to ignore them and leave it to address during work hours. 

Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke MP says the laws would mean “absolutely no penalty can be brought against them” for doing so.

Calderone noted the pandemic’s role in “blurring the boundaries” between work life and home life, which has resulted in “availability creep”. She speculates the changes may form part of the existing adverse action provisions in the Fair Work Act, which prohibit adverse action (such as warnings or termination of employment) being taken against an employee on certain protected grounds.

Adverse action taken against employees for setting firm work boundaries disproportionately affects women and carers who have more unpaid domestic or care responsibilities outside of the workplace. 

“Maybe (the proposed laws) will fill the gap for unpaid work, and particularly for women who work reduced hours due to carers’ responsibilities, but this would require more carrot that stick,” Calderone told Women’s Agenda.

‘More stick than carrot’

The National Employment Standard in the Fair Work Act already provides the maximum working hours for full-time employees to be 38 hours per week. Full-time employees can only be expected to work “reasonable additional hours” considering various factors, such as work, health, safety and the employee’s personal circumstances, including family responsibilities. An expectation to work unreasonable additional hours is a breach of the Fair Work Act.

If the Senate votes in favour of legislating the “right to disconnect” Bill, Calderone said it would act as “more stick than carrot”: that is, employees will be able to seek the assistance of the Fair Work Commission for a “stop order” against their employer, and may have protection from adverse action if they disconnect.

The “carrot” potential was the concept of an “availability allowance” for periods during which communications are made to employees outside ordinary working hours. It does not seem this will form part of the new ‘right to disconnect’ provisions in the Closing Loopholes (No 2) Bill. 

“The availability allowance may have gone some way towards closing the gender pay gap by ensuring women are remunerated for work outside their ordinary hours in circumstances where this is not available to them under an Award or Enterprise Agreement,” Calderone said.  

“The proposed changes are part of public campaign that opens up the conversation even further, and provides some more detail, rigour and stick consequence that may accelerate the pace of change.

“It may also be open to employers to pay an ‘availability allowance’ as a matter of policy to increase the reasonableness of the requirement to work outside of hours or as part of the ‘reasonable business grounds’ justifying out of hours contact.  

“There are no reports which presently suggest this will be the case and this can only be considered when we see the details of the proposed laws.”

Changes for women?

Calderone also wonders if the “right to disconnect” legislation’s definition of the term “reasonable working hours” and the “reasonable business grounds” permitting outside of hours contact will allow for subjectivity for carers, most of whom are women.

“It’s not clear – I haven’t read anything that suggests that will be the case, other than existing discrimination legislation and flexible work provisions,” Calderone said.

“I think there’s an aspect of it that will protect women and carers if it comes through, like the ‘no penalty’ provisions.”

The changes to the legislation would be desirable for women, Calderone said. Having the right to “disconnect” from work would give women and people with caring responsibilities “comfort” that they are not expected to take that call, answer that email, reply to that text or meet that out of hours deadline that has been imposed on them.

But Calderone expects not many women and carers would take a complaint to the Commission to obtain a “stop order”, even if the legislation was passed.

“I just can’t see that many working mums going off to the Commission and saying her employer is making her work unreasonable hours,” she said.

“This more frequently occurs in unionised workforces, with groups and people gathering together, which is not often the case for working mums, particularly those working flexibly.”

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The law, which will apply across Great Britain, would ensure equal pay claims on the basis of ethnicity and disability are handled the same as those made by women, who currently have more stringent protections on pay than other groups. The 2010 Equality Act mandates that women and men are entitled to equal pay for equal work.

On Monday, Jacqueline Mckenzie, a lawyer who contributed to the taskforce set up by Labour to develop the new Race Equality Act, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the party’s plans were “a bold step”.

“What we’re not sure about, because we haven’t seen the act, is whether or not it will actually include enforcement penalties and mandatory reporting,” she said. “Because if it doesn’t do that it’s not actually going to make any difference.”

Under Labour’s plans for the Act, the law would be gradually introduced to give employers time to adjust to remunerating all their staff appropriately. Back pay will only be offered to workers from when the law officially comes into play. 

The proposals will take up the “dual discrimination” that some workers face, allowing them to bring a single claim if they believe they have experienced a combination of discriminations — for example, both sexism and racism, or ableism. 

Labour also announced it plans to appoint a Windrush commissioner if it wins the general election to surveil the compensation scheme, and that business groups and unions will be consulted before the law is enshrined. 

Shadow women and equalities secretary, Anneliese Dodds released a statement, saying “It has never been more important to deliver race equality.”

“Inequality has soared under the Tories and too many black, Asian and ethnic minority families are working harder and harder for less and less,” she wrote.

“This is holding back their families and holding back the economy. We are proud of our achievements in government, from the landmark Equality Act [in 2010] to strengthening protections against discrimination. The next Labour government will go further to ensure no matter where you live in the UK, and whatever your background, you can thrive.”

However, Dr Begum believes the proposals are not flawless.

“[The Act] fall short of addressing the formidable scale of inequalities that shape the experiences and opportunities of people of colour,” she said. 

“Committing to address structural racial inequality needs to understand that racism doesn’t simply arise when the system fails – but that racism is actually sewn into the very fabric of the system itself.”

“Labour must use the race equality act as a platform to commit to an ambitious, cross-governmental approach supported with sustained investment addressing the unacceptable – and in some cases worsening – disparities in health, housing, wealth and policing, faced by so many communities of colour.”

Minister for Equalities Kemi Badenoch is even more sceptical, calling the proposals “a bonanza for dodgy, activist lawyers”.

“[The Act would] set people against each other and see millions wasted on pointless red tape,” she wrote on X. “It is obviously already illegal to pay someone less because of their race.” 

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According to the results of one country following such a change, it absolutely can. 

Taiwan amended legislation in 2021 to increase the rate of paid parental leave for parents from 60 per cent of their insured salary to 80 per cent, applied to previously available six months of leave. Other legislated changes included the addition of flexibility, with parents able to take off a month or more at a time, rather than having to take the full six months in one go. 

The changes resulted in an immediate uptick of fathers taking leave, at 25.2 per cent of “married parents” who took leave in 2022, rising from 18.2 per cent the year before. That result saw a total of 25,100 fathers taking leave in 2022. 

The changes came via amendments to the Employment Insurance Act in July 2021, and during the second term of Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-Wen, specifically aimed at promoting “gender-friendly workplaces” and encouraging more men to take part in housework and care. 

The results were revealed in a paper released by Taiwan this week, 2024 Gender at a Glance in the ROC, and comes just months after Taiwan was ranked the highest in Asia and sixth globally across the 179 countries listed on the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index. Taiwan trails the well-known leaders on gender equality, including Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden, but comes in ahead of Australia, the United States and the UK. Last year was the first time Taiwan appeared on this Index. 

Taiwan boasts other impressive results according to this week’s government paper, including having 41.6 per cent of its legislature being made up of women at January’s election, although this is slightly down from the 42.5 per cent achieved following its latest 2022 legislative by-election. 

Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in May 2019, with more than 7000 men and almost 18,000 women registering for such marriages by the end of 2023. 

Taiwan also introduced anti-sexual harassment laws in 2023, following a number of sexual assault claims against celebrities and other powerful figures, including within the Democratic Progressive Party, that sparked a number of resignations. The new laws saw an expansion of workplaces covered to now include those with at least 10 employees, as well as an extension on the statute of limitations. All employers covered must establish channels for sexual harassment reporting, and must then investigate all sexual harassment complaints and report findings to local authorities or face the consequence of fines.  

Taiwan has been led by its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, for the past eight years, who has been credited with leading the country successfully through the pandemic and promoting a strong Taiwanese identity separate from China. Her successor, William Lai Ching-te, was successfully elected at the presidential and legislative elections earlier this month. The president-elect has been Tsai Ing-wen’s VP since 2020 and will officially become president in May 2023.

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Tomaso Moro, a sales rep who worked for e-commerce support firm Insider AU, brought the case to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) following the termination of his employment at the company last year.

Moro was dismissed by his regional director, Tunc Bolluk, for his supposed “lack of commitment” to Insider AU, on the grounds that he would work from home every day, even on Mondays and Wednesdays, which were mandatory in-office days for the company.

His dismissal was triggered by an incident on August 30 last year – a mandatory in-office day. That morning, he updated his work calendar indicating he would be working from home, as a tradesperson was coming to his house to fix his dishwasher.

Later, Bolluk texted Moro, indicating he did not believe Moro was telling the truth.

“Sorry Tom, I’m calling BS on this,” Bolluk wrote in a text message.

“This is not good enough – you are supposed to give us a heads up WAY in advance as opposed to having me chase you like this.”

According to the evidence, Bolluk allegedly told Moro the following day: “You clearly don’t want to come into the office. It is best to part ways.”

He was sacked the following day and received two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice.

Moro brought the case to the FWC, arguing he was unfairly dismissed, despite being the top sales performer in the company. Moro also cited a previous interaction earlier in 2023 with Bolluk, where he considered resigning from his role to travel, but in the end decided to stay with the company.

Meanwhile, Bolluk, on behalf of Insider AU, maintained it was a mutual decision for Moro’s termination, as his “commitment to the role was lacking, leading to a decision to proceed with termination”.

By the end of the hearing, Commissioner Donna McKenna sided with Moro and ruled that his dismissal was “predetermined, harsh, unfair and unreasonable”.

“I am not satisfied that the applicant’s conduct in not attending the office and, instead, working from home on August 30, 2023 constituted a valid reason for dismissal,” Commissioner McKenna told the FWC.

“I also consider that the irritant of the applicant’s unilateral advice that he would again be working from home on August 30, 2023, being an in-office day, was the trigger for the dismissal against the backdrop of the previous exchanges about resignation and/or Mr Bolluk’s understanding that the employment relationship was, in any event, going to conclude by resignation at some point into the future.”

Commissioner McKenna ordered Insider AU to give Moro three months’ pay in compensation at $2208 a week. On top of bonuses, this equates to $26,496.

To WFH, or not to WFH?

Working from home has been a point of contention as the Australian workforce continues to rebuild following the COVID-19 pandemic, which rocked the national and global economy.

According to recent research from online job site SEEK, flexible working conditions will likely remain part of the norm, at least for the near future.

However, about two-thirds of CEOs in Australia see all white-collar workers returning to the office full-time in the next three years, the KPMG 2023 CEO Outlook survey found.

Cases relating to unfair dismissals for working from home are being brought to the FWC more and more frequently. 

In November last year, the Commission denied a request from an employee at Maxxia, Charles Gregory, to work from home full-time. The FWC found the company’s guidelines to have staff in the office 40 per cent of the time was not unreasonable, despite Gregory’s health condition and his responsibility as a carer.

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The Dads Action Plan for the Early Years is a national strategy that hopes to support fathers in taking an equal share of parenting, addressing the fundamental role of fathers in parenting and the challenges they may face, such as harmful stereotyping and inadequate specific male-parent support. 

Among many recommendations, it is recommending 12 weeks of federally-funded paid parental leave for fathers and non-birthing parents, doubling the current leave reserved for non-birthing parents to four weeks and introduce concurrent leave.

The group behind the initiative, including comedian and podcaster Hamish Blake, Bluey voice actor David McCormack, Australia’s Local Hero of 2023 Amar Singh, and Red Wiggle Simon Pryce — hope to change the landscape for working fathers. 

Blake, who hosts the popular podcast, How Other Dads Dad, said the current generation of fathers yearn to be more engaged with their children, but do not always know where and how to get support. 

“Something like this helps make that more possible for more dads, and I reckon that’s a massive, long-term good thing for everyone involved,” he told AAP. 

“Becoming a dad can be a pretty overwhelming time for a lot of guys, and in my experience this generation of dads really want to be more engaged, but perhaps don’t always know where and how to get support. Something like this helps make that more possible for more dads, and I reckon that’s a massive long term Good Thing for everyone involved.”

Amar Singh with his family

Blake, who was crowned Australian Father of the Year in 2023, has made it his mission on his podcast to encourage men to talk openly about parenting, fatherhood and “how to be a good dad” — interviewing other celebrity dads on his show, including Australian Test Cricket Captain, singer songwriter Ben Lee, comedian Dave Hughes, and former Socceroo captain, Craig Foster. 

Amar Singh, founder of Turbans 4 Australia, told APP, “It’s good for family values to have both parents there and with the flexibility to take care of the kids, be around them more, nourish them and create that bond.”

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The Dads Action Plan for the Early Years has laid out a five-point action plan, making a series of recommendations, including more affordable and accessible childhood education, better education and support to fathers to be active and caring parents, and a significant boost in male early educators.

Several organisations across the country have already pledged their allegiance to the national strategy, including Playgroup Victoria, The Parenthood and Dads Group, an organisation that promotes positive parenting for men.

Jay Weatherill, director of the Minderoo Foundation, and the director of the campaign said the plan is “as much about changing social norms as it is about money as well.”

In a statement released this morning, Weatherill explained that “For too long access to childcare and kindergarten has been seen mostly as a women’s issue, but this does not reflect the reality of modern families.”

“Dads know that early childhood education is good for their kids – they want them to have the opportunities it provides for their social, cognitive and emotional development, and the lifelong benefits that come with that,” he said.

“On top of that, modern dads want to take a more active and engaged role in parenting but government and employer policies and services have not caught up with that change.”

“So I am really pleased to see these fellow dads coming forward today to call on politicians to do everything they can to make sure children are set up to thrive.”

Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood, believes that encouraging men to be active fathers is not just beneficial for dads, but crucial for children. 

“It’s a step closer to achieving true equality between women and men,” she said. “There are clear benefits from supporting and encouraging men to be engaged, active fathers and take on responsibility for the care and well-being of their young children.”

“It’s good for dads, really important for children, great for families and helps bring women and men closer to true equality.” 

“Dads in Australia take less than 20 per cent of the parental leave dads take globally. This isn’t because Dads here aren’t interested in taking the leave. It’s because our policy settings don’t encourage it. An equitable paid parental leave policy is a game-changer for mums, dads, and children. It gives parents the ability to truly share the care.” 

“This perpetuates the expectation that mothers will assume primary responsibility for caregiving. We need a shift in societal norms, where fathers are encouraged and supported to be active caregivers.” 

Currently in Australia each year, roughly 180,000 families receive government-funded paid parental leave. 

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