Do parents deserve special treatment at work?

As a parent with a career (the worst kind of parent to have to be IMO, my preferred parenting mode would be parent with a Powerball win under their belt) it is hard for me to imagine being able to do my job without some flexibility to do my other full time job; being a Dad.

But when you sometimes leave early to pick up the kids from school or work from home because of sick kids or duck out to see them win their first award, there is often someone or a group of people at your work that aren’t happy about it.

People who don’t have / want kids have been openly frustrated that they don’t get the same flexibility as their parental colleagues. I’m not saying I don’t agree with their point of view either, as I understand to them it feels like they are being punished for not having kids.

But unless you or your partner is making the big bucks to cover the cost of nanny’s, after school care or there are local, willing and capable Grand Parents (please note, local, willing AND capable. Many of you may have 1-4 Grand Parents of your children still alive but potentially none would fit the criteria of local, willing and capable supervisors of your children) your standard 9-5 job plus commute around school hours and hopefully some after school activities, isn’t logistically that easy to manage for the average Australian.

I was once in a company meeting where a new parental leave policy was announced and a follow up question was asked;

“Do paw parents get the same leave entitlements?”

For those that are unaware, Paw parents are people who have pets.

And behind the scenes, other parents were furious with this request and comparison. How dare they even put themselves in the same conversation. Especially Mothers who go through a whole other universe of pain and experiences to carry a child, it’s not quite the same as picking up a rescue and driving home with it.

As a Father of both human and canine children - and I’m not a casual friend of my dog, I’m obsessed with her. I love that dog more than most humans, but my Human children and my responsibilities to them as a Father are no where near comparable to being a dog Dad.

In order to attract and retain good people who also happen to be parents, companies need to consider them and their needs.

Naturally many of us will get more Senior in our roles and some of us also become parents. Our work experience is valuable to companies but I can tell you with 100% certainty that some companies would rather not employ any parents.

Do they want to pay parental leave or see you leave the office at 3pm? No they don’t, even if they don’t say it to your face. Some will say in indirectly with their actions because often the decision makers at the top, are making enough dollarbucks to cover some of the things us regular Joe’s and Joanne’s cant afford.

But to those non-parents, do they deserve some sort of equivalent of paid parental leave or as much flexibility without having kids or do they have to wait until they also become parents? Even though to many companies - who again won’t say it openly but will say it privately - would rather employ people without kids and have them stay back later, travel more without complaints or have an office full of kids on ipads during the school holidays.

And to those of you that don’t have kids or want kids, I fall very much into the camp of fully supporting your choice.

So where is the middle ground for Parents and non-Parents and how employees treat both parties?