Thousands of employers offer paid parental leave in addition to the Australian government scheme. WGEA’s Data Explorer can tell you if your employer is one of them.
What are the standards?
The Australian Government provides eligible parents with up to 26 weeks of parental leave at the national minimum wage.
Under the National Employment Standards employers must also provide unpaid leave to employees.
Each year almost 10,000 employers report data on parental leave to WGEA. Those reports reveal which employers are offering paid parental leave in addition to the national standards.
Which companies offer paid parental leave to employees?
2 in 3 employers with 100 or more employees offer paid parental leave.
The length of time they offer varies by employer, and it can sometimes depend on whether the employee is considered a ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ caregiver. The average employer provides 14 weeks to primary carer’s and 3.7 weeks to secondary carers.
1 in 5 employers do not make this distinction and offer the same amount of leave to all parents. This approach results in a more equal sharing of parental leave between women and men and removes any gendered stereotypes.
Some employers will have qualifying periods for their parental leave scheme. This means employees need to be employed with the organisation for a certain amount of time before they are eligible to take paid parental leave.
WGEA’s Data Explorer contains the details of each employer’s policy on their employer page.
Knowledge-based employers are likely to offer paid parental leave
Law firms, consulting firms, accounting firms and technology companies as well as financial and insurance companies feature heavily in the list of employers offering the most paid parental leave.
56 employers in Legal Services offer their employees 26 weeks or more of paid parental leave. According to the Law Society Journal, many firms have expanded paid parental leave and made it gender-neutral because it helps them "attracted and retain talent".
Higher education is a standout sector
Universities are heavily represented among the highest leave providers.
32 higher education employers offer employees more than 26 weeks of paid parental leave. The Education and Training industry also has the largest number of employers offering above the 14-week average of paid parental leave.
Mining companies are market leaders
Some men-dominated industries now provide parental leave benefits that rival or exceed those in traditionally women-dominated sectors.
Mining features heavily among the employers who offer above average paid parental leave. 7 employers in Iron Ore Mining offer 26 weeks or more.
Workplace Gender Equality Citation employers all offer parental leave
Employers recognised with the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality Citation must offer at least 8 weeks of paid parental leave.
These employers are identified on the Data Explorer with the citation logo.
It's not just big employers
Many people assume larger employers are more likely to offer paid parental leave because they can afford the cost.
But the WGEA data shows some of Australia’s most generous parental leave policies are found in employers with 100-250 employees, not just in large organisations.
Employers with 100-250 employees who offer 'universal' or 'gender-neutral' leave are more likely to have longer paid parental leave allowances.
View the employers in your industry below
The interactive graph below groups employers by size within industries. You can use the filter to switch between industries. Hover over the bars to view the employer's name and the number of weeks offered.
For more detail on the employer policies, inclusions and exclusions view the employers on the WGEA Data Explorer.
If you would like a copy of the WGEA parental leave data, please contact us.
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