How we're turning promises into progress this IWD
When we first dreamed up a little locker business called Mustard, it wasn't really about lockers at all. Yes, Becca had developed a bit of a locker obsession, and yes, we'd always talked about starting a business together. But the real push we needed was something else entirely. We're really proud to share the 'why' behind our new parents' package.
The catalyst for the beginnings of our business was a baby. Becca's baby Ellis, to be precise. Our business was born in 2017 when Ellis was one month old and in his first year, we developed the products and launched the business.
We've experienced firsthand the challenges of balancing work and parenthood. I (Becca) have been a 'young mother', a 'single mother', a 'stay-at-home mother' and an 'answering-emails-while-in-labour mother' (who also took my newborn to work with me)! The main reason I started working for myself, way before Mustard, was because I couldn't figure out a way to juggle consistent work with single parenting. I felt like I was unemployable, not because I lacked skills or ambition, but because the system wasn't built for people like me. It taught me that while it was challenging, I genuinely love work and with creativity, I was able to become not just employable, but an employer too!
I have been a 'young mother', a 'single mother', a 'stay-at-home mother' and an 'answering-emails-while-in-labour mother' (who also took my newborn to work with me)! — Becca
When Otis and Poppy were born in 2020 and 2021, Mustard was well and truly growing and both our husbands, Jono and Marc, took on equal parenting roles and moved into the business alongside us. Balance and flexibility were the key ingredients that enabled us all to keep working and parenting together. As our children have grown, the shared parenting responsibilities have remained and our workloads personally and professionally feel equal and equally respected.
Ask any parent and they'll agree: the juggle is real. Trying to find work that fits around school and daycare hours, that doesn't fall over when school holidays hit, and that understands that sometimes being there for school events really, really matters to a little person… it's a tall order.
Of course, this absolutely shouldn't just be a women's issue, but women's careers do often take the biggest hit once they start a family.
As a business founded by two working mums, we've always wanted Mustard to be the workplace that we couldn't find for ourselves.
Our personal journeys and experiences as parents have undoubtedly been the driving forces behind building our parental leave policy and overall parents' package.
marching forward
This year, the theme for International Women's Day is 'It's time to turn promises into progress: march forward.' It's a fitting way to describe what our parents' package means to us, as we turn the promises we once made to ourselves into progress for our team! When Mustard was in its infancy, we couldn't even pay ourselves a wage, let alone offer a parental leave policy. But seven years down the track, we finally reached a point where we could make it happen. When three of our team members shared that they had babies on the way, it gave us just the nudge we needed to march forward and put it into action.
The policy key points:
- The primary parent receives 16 weeks full pay
- The secondary parent receives 6 weeks of full pay plus an additional 4 weeks of full pay
- Paid leave for pre-adoption, surrogacy, fostering, kinship or fertility treatment in addition to annual leave.
- Paid leave for miscarriage and termination and full parental package for stillbirth and neonatal loss, as well as access to our employee assistance programme.
- Flexible return-to-work options, including 10 paid Keeping in Touch (KIT) days in both of our regions and support for adjusting work schedules.
- Childcare bonus for 6 months upon returning to work
making it mustard
Like everything we create, designing our parents' policy was a real labor (wink, wink) of love. It was important that we weren't reinforcing stereotypes or biases with the way we approached it, which is why it's called a parents' package and not a maternity leave policy. Families come in all shapes and sizes, and there are many ways to become a parent. Whether through birth, adoption, surrogacy, or other paths. Parenting takes teamwork, no matter who's on your team. That's why our policy supports not only the primary parent, but also the secondary parent. As the secondary parent, taking time to get to know your new family member and to support your partner is incredibly important. Not only does it benefit your family, it's also a part of our ongoing commitment to equality.
By contributing to childcare, creating an environment where men are more likely to take parental leave and offering flexibility when returning, we believe we can have a long-term impact on our employees' and their families' lives.
talking about the hard stuff
Life isn't always smooth sailing, and it's in the hardest twists and turns when you need support the most. Our parents' package includes leave and support for stillbirth, miscarriage, termination for medical reasons and abortion. Difficult times are hard enough to navigate at home, so we wanted to do what we could to help ease the pressure during any tough times our team might be going through.
the comeback
We believe that having children should not be a barrier to anyone's progression at work and we are here to ensure that our team's careers can continue to flourish as their families do too.
We feel really strongly that, with the right support, working parents are incredible assets to a business. That's why our parents' package focuses not only on supporting parents in their time away from work, but helping them return in a way that works for them too. We've experienced the structural challenges that so often come with managing childcare and work, so we know how important it is to prioritize flexibility and communication. Plus, we also provide a return-to-work bonus to help parents manage the costs of childcare as they transition back into work, regardless of whether they're a first-time parent or not.
warm and fuzzy
Getting to share this parents' policy with our team was a moment we won't forget. There were tears (and not just from us!) which tells you a little bit about how much of an impact these kinds of policies can make. We feel really strongly that with the privilege of being our own bosses, comes the responsibility to move the needle on the things that once made us feel locked out of the workforce. We always say we are a family business, and we're not just talking about the fact that we're sisters!
Whether you're paid for the work you do on top of your parenting duties, or you're at home with the kids every day (which is totally just as hard, if not harder!), we know that raising little ones can be a tough gig. Being able to do our bit to ease the burden on our team members' lives as they go through a huge transition period will forever go down as one of our proudest achievements at Mustard. We even made it into the paper! Check out our interview with The Times.
