A message for parish and town councils across England from CEO of Mumsnet
Dear chair,
Will your Council publish its parental leave policies?
You may be familiar with Mumsnet. We're the UK's largest network for parents, with nine million unique visitors per month - the vast majority of them women and mums.
We launched our #PublishParentalLeave campaign in 2019 in response to concerns from Mumsnet users that asking about parental leave policies at interview would jeopardise their chances of employment. Mumsnet research found that 84% of respondents said employers’ parental leave policies are very or somewhat important for them when applying for or considering applying for a job. But there’s currently no obligation for organisations to be open about the parental leave they give to their employees, and two thirds of Mumsnet users told us they’ve found it difficult or impossible to find the information when applying for a job.
We want the government to make it mandatory for large organisations to publish their parental leave policies - and in the meantime, we’re encouraging all employers to publish this information voluntarily.
Publishing parental leave is a small, cost-free change that encourages a race to the top for employers, helps tackle the gender pay gap and allows potential employees to make informed decisions about their futures.
We’re delighted that the National Association of Local Councils has recently published its own policies. I’m now writing to ask you to commit your council to doing the same. You can find best practice guidance on how to do this on our website.
Yours sincerely,
Justine Roberts
Mumsnet Founder and CEO
