The Bank of Queensland announced in May 2014 that gender would be removed from resumes submitted to the Bank under a new measure aimed at boosting the number of executive women in the company’s ranks. Concerned that there is an “unconscious bias” working against women in the selection process, the Bank of Queensland is removing all identifying factors on CVs to make sure they pick the best person for the job. The move came into effect immediately for all executive roles. All identifying factors – name, age, gender, address – are now removed from resumes submitted for senior roles and are therefore held back from panels as much as possible. The Bank’s General Manager has stated: “It is a brave approach, but you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different outcomes. Our objective is to get people making decisions on the basis of competency – not based on other factors – and we’re hoping we will get a stronger pool of females coming through”. The number of women in the company’s leadership team has increased from nine to 19 during recent years however, they are working towards an even gender balance.
Cement Australia’s ‘Enabling Female Leaders in the Cement Industry’ program is award-winning. Since its formation in 2003 Cement Australia has made significant progress in increasing the representation of women in its workforce, particularly in middle and upper management levels. An extensive range of initiatives from paid parental leave, flexible work arrangements, pay equity reviews, toddlers’ and teenagers’ rooms, training and employees assistance programs has shown tangible results. These include the doubling of women in roles in middle to upper management over four years.
National Australia Bank employees, upon return to work, receive up to 40 weeks of superannuation contributions on unpaid parental leave at a rate of 10%, in addition to the 12 weeks of paid leave and superannuation already provided to those on primary carer's leave by the bank. NAB has reported increases in its return-to-work rate of employees on parental leave from 65% in 2006 to 80% in 2013. In June 2014, National Australia Bank announced that its 28,000 Australian staff would also be able to accrue long service leave entitlements while on parental leave. The change, an Australian first, is part of the bank’s enterprise agreement negotiated with the Finance Sector Union that will operate until March 2016. Staff will be able to count up to 40 weeks of unpaid primary carers’ leave for accruing long service leave entitlements. Michaela Healey, NAB group executive for people, communications & governance told the Financial Review that “This decision will ensure that NAB parents, particularly mums, aren’t penalised in the workplace for having children, or taking time off to care for them.” A spokeswoman said the move came about after NAB conducted a gender pay equity audit, in conjunction with the FSU, to investigate possible causes or barriers to equal pay. NAB has also committed to introducing remuneration reviews for all employees returning from parental leave – with some 1200 NAB employees taking primary carers’ leave each year.
From March 2014, Laing O’Rourke began providing greater flexibility for both primary and secondary carers with its new, industry-leading paid parental leave offering. Primary carers – after 12 months’ continuous employment – are now entitled to 26 weeks of paid leave, 18 of which are at full pay, and eight weeks at half pay. Primary carers will also have access to flexible working arrangements, as well as return-to-work coaching and keep-in-touch programs. Leave is paid according to the employee’s regular payment cycle, with the former return-to-work component now included upfront. Formerly, primary carers were given six weeks of paid leave, two of which were paid after returning to work. Employees also needed two years’ continuous service to be eligible. Under the new scheme, secondary carers – after 12 months’ ongoing employment – are now entitled to four weeks of parental leave, two weeks at full pay and two weeks unpaid.