Is someone in your office having a baby on the way? Then congratulations are due! As a manager, you should prepare the expecting mother and likewise, the company, for the transition. Thankfully, The Labor Code of the Philippines lists guidelines on providing maternity leave and other law-mandated benefits for women workers.
Maternity Leave and Employee Retention in the Philippines
The biggest argument against parental leaves is that small businesses lack enough resources to shoulder its costs. However, despite common misconceptions, studies show that they positively affect employee turnover.
In business, we know that the cost of turnover is great. Recruiting, onboarding, and training new employees entails bigger expenses for companies. This even excludes the negative image suffered by firms with high turnover rates.
For this reason, it is then more cost-efficient to nurture your current employees. One way to do so is by offering maternity and paternity leaves as required by Philippine law.
What Should Managers Do
To effectively prepare to support expectant women, here are some things to do:
Learn the Philippine Labor Code
It goes without saying that businesses should be fully compliant with the law’s mandates for women. The same applies to all other employee groups as well. Good for you though—the fact that you are reading this blog means that you are taking the necessary steps to educate yourself!
Cultivate a Positive Culture
Aside from enforcing rules and regulations that adhere to the Code, building a culture that supports women is key. Interviews made with women returning from maternity leaves show that most companies were unprepared to help them transition back to work.
Plan Ahead
To help mothers ease into this new period, businesses need to think ahead. Before someone files for maternity leave, schedule a meeting to delegate their role to other team members. Doing so guarantees that tasks still get done and work proceeds as usual.
When they return, set up re-onboarding processes to keep them on the loop. This makes sure that they come back with a greater appreciation for their role at work.
Infographic: Maternity Leave and Other Mandates | Labor Code of the Philippines
The image below summarizes key points from the Code pertaining to special employee groups.
Business Self-Check
After learning the law on employing women and minors, ask yourself: Is your business in full compliance with these requirements?
If not, take this infographic with you as you work on it. Your employees are your partners that will help your business grow—they should be treated as such.
If yes, pat yourself on the back! You can now focus on finding new ways to elevate your employees’ work experience. Check out our previous article on low-cost employee benefits that you can offer.
Up Next: Book Four
In line with your team’s work life, our next Labor Code infographic will tackle guidelines about the health, safety, and social welfare of workers. Keep an eye open for it!
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Labor Code Infographic Series
This article is part of our ongoing series of blogs summarizing the Labor Code’s mandates for businesses. Check out our previous articles below:
- Training and Employing Special Workers
- Establishing Working Hours and Rest Days
- Calculating Holiday, Overtime, and Night Differential Premiums
