Architecture and design studio, TURNER, has introduced a paid parental leave policy, encouraging gender equity within a male-dominated construction industry.
The studio’s policy offers up to 18 weeks of paid leave to any parent regardless of gender, and the length of leave scales up in weeks based on years of service. Super is paid on top of this as well.
Although TURNER’s team is made up of 63 per cent female workers, and has 48 per cent women in leadership roles, the practice’s Head of People & Culture Sika Fernandez says she was conscious not to only offer paid leave to mothers, as fathers should take leave upon the birth of their children as well.
“All parents should have the right to spend time with their new child, and this may help open up the conversation around which parent returns to work and when. If Paid Parental Leave was consistent across the board for every parent, we might see more women return to work earlier and feel less pressure to be the primary caretaker in the first months,” Fernandez says.
“I’m very happy to be one of the only architecture practices to offer this level of leave.”
Women are underrepresented in the construction industry, making up less than 15 per cent of the entire workforce in 2023. As a subset of construction, the architecture industry also lacks female representation, but research has shown the number sits slightly higher at around a third of total workers identifying as women.
Fernandez says TURNER’s paid parental leave policy is just one of the initiatives she’s spearheading within the practice. Others include flexible working arrangements, free counselling services (extended to employees’ immediate families), ample staff culture events and training opportunities that are on offer for the practice’s staff.
TURNER also strives to be inclusive, and was one of the sponsoring members of Architects with Pride, which brought together the LGBTQI+ communities of the built environment industry to celebrate the 2023 World Pride and Mardi Gras Festival.
Noting that employee retention and happiness are at the core of TURNER’s culture, Fernandez says “our goal is to become an employer of choice for the architecture and design industry. We’re a great team and we love what we do. We want to make sure the talents of our team are recognised.”