baby

Planning to have babies? You wish you worked here.

Creative company, The Works, is set to pay new parents a bonus of $100 per day for childcare services.

The Sydney-based advertising agency is offering the payment for six months to parents returning to work, regardless of their annual salary.

The plan, which starts in July, is part of the company’s “family first initiative” which also includes flexible work arrangements and reward and recognition programs.

Joanna Gray, who is currently on maternity leave from the agency, will be eligible for the payment.

Jo with her daughter, Daisy. Image supplied.

"The Works is just super flexible. The point is they really want us mothers back.

"There’s a lot of us who have worked in the business for a couple of years and now we’re at that age where we’re having children, and I think they're very keen to keep us engaged and therefore they’re super flexible about how we do that," she said.

The Head of Project Management already has a flexible working from home arrangement in place after volunteering to work for ten hours a week while caring for her four-month-old daughter, Daisy.

The new mother says she will also be taking up the company's "generous" new childcare bonus.

"It’s going to make a major difference. It allows me to go back to work and choose the childcare that works for me and makes a significant difference to our budget," said Mrs Gray.

"But beyond that, the biggest difference it makes to me is in my leadership role. I’m head of project management and I lead a team of 25 and there’s a lot of women in that team, there’s a lot of women who are having children, and they’re some of our best employees, and what it will really give me is something to make it more appealing for them to return to work."

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The mother of one says the $100-per-day bonus will allow her to keep valuable employees, potentially attract excellent new employees and hire a nanny at home.

"It means that I can keep chasing my career goals with the peace of mind that my daughter is going to be well cared for," she said.

The policy is said to be an industry first and is available to employees that have been with the agency for two years.

Staff at The Works. Image supplied. 

Kevin Macmillan, Partner at The Works, said 32% of the agency's staff work part-time after returning from maternity leave.

“Parents need as much flexibility as possible when it comes to their kids, we wanted to ensure the parents were the decision makers, whether that is a nanny, early childcare centre or their parents we want to support that decision and respect that everyone’s situation differs,” Mr Macmillan said.

The company's research found childcare cost an average of $96 a day in NSW,  so the agency offered $100 per day to allow staff to choose childcare that fits with their schedules and location.

“The Works has always had a strong focus on family and as we have grown over the last five years it was apparent we needed to be more innovative when it came to our people, their needs and wants and how we could support them. Ultimately, it’s their talent and drive which defines our success,” Mr Macmillan said.

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