Australia is currently one of only two OECD countries (the other is the USA) without a national paid parental leave scheme.

But all that's about to change - on 1 January 2011, Australia will finally catch up with the rest of the world when the Government delivers our first national Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme, offering 18 weeks of government funded paid leave. It'll be available to parents for births and adoptions that occur on or after that date and has been described by the Government as:

"... an historic reform to prepare Australia for the challenges of the future. The Government scheme will provide greater financial support to families, increase workforce participation and promote early childhood development."

The scheme will, it is hoped, encourage women to maintain their connection with the workforce and their careers - and it is essential to help prepare Australia for the challenges of an ageing population. Business and employers will, in addition to signalling that the company is family-friendly and values female staff, benefit from the retention of skilled and experienced female staff, increase employee loyalty and promote higher staff retention rates.

Currently, only one third of Australian women with children benefitted from some level of PPL from their (then) employers - so the introduction of 18 weeks of paid leave will be a huge sea change for many companies.

Although the onus will be on the pregnant women (who will need to have been employed for at least a year) to apply for the PPL, employers need to think about how they'll create and manage an appropriate working environment for these valued members of staff before, during and after they go out on leave.

Here are some ideas.

Before the leave starts:

• Make your staff member aware of what existing flexible working options are available to her in the firm - is telecommuting, working part-time or working compressed hours an option that she may wish to consider upon her return?
• What other forms of support do you have available - or what do you need to create?
• Who else could she speak to who's been there, done that, got the t-shirt and come back to work afterwards?
• What resources might you need to call upon to support your staff both before, during and after their PPLs?
• Sit down with her and ask her what, if any, her plans are at this stage. Encourage her to consider her stakeholders, colleagues and customers and to think flexibly.

Whilst she's away:

• Keep in touch per her pre-agreed contact plan: this may be contact with a nominated person, via email only or whatever else you've previously discussed and agreed.
• Bear in mind that, dependent upon the nature of the situation, she may wish to flex or change these arrangements; some new mums find they crave the adult contact of the office world, others want to withdraw completely and enjoy their new arrival. Be sensitive and aware that PPL can be a moveable feast.

When she's due to come back:

• Have a confidential and supportive conversation as to her future plans. Will she be returning at the end of the mandated 18 week period, or sooner (and perhaps transferring the unused portion of leave to her partner) or later? Bear in mind that, again, these plans may have changed from the ones you discussed a few months ago.
• Discuss flexible working options, if available and appropriate. What can the company do to ease the transition back to the workplace? What resources are available to help her? Do you, for example, have a "mentoring mums" network who can assist with transitioning back?
• Consider how her role, the environment and the team may have changed in her absence. Do you need to set new performance related goals and objectives, either because of in-house changes or to accommodate a changed working schedule?

About the author

Maureen Frank  is the CEO of Emberin