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."
Top Comments
I work for a 'big 4' bank who have had this benefit for years. We are paid $3000 over 3 months upon returning to work (part time included) to help with childcare costs. There are no restrictions on it. It's good to see smaller businesses embracing these types of benefits. Now if only more dads would take parental leave we would make progress with that gender pay gap!