MUMS OVERWORKED, NEED LEAVE - FESBC

MBABANE – The Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) says working mothers are now doing an extra job during the period of the partial lockdown, and they need some form of relief.

The relief, as suggested by the federation, would be leave of absence given to the working mothers.
This is according to a report from a survey done by the business community themed; Supporting Working Mothers and Parents during COVID-19 and beyond. It was done by FESBC business experts.

However, the report does not clearly stipulate whether the leave of absence should be on full pay or not.
In fact, the report reads that parents, in particular mothers, now spend an additional 27 hours each week on household chores, childcare and education—nearly the equivalent of a second job on top of their household responsibilities before the coronavirus crisis.

Highlights

The study highlights that the COVID-19 crisis was turning many lives around, bringing grave concerns about health, welfare and a long list of other stresses and uncertainties in the kingdom.

Moreover, it was stipulated that working women with school-going children were often at a critical stage in their career, potentially serving as middle managers and on their way to leadership and executive positions.

“These are roles that, around the world, are still more often filled by men. However, as these women navigate the COVID-19 crisis plus their career path; their employers’ decision on gender equality, female promotion and advancement of women will certainly be put to the test,” it was stated.
It was mentioned that both mothers and fathers were stepping up, but women continued to bear a disproportionate share of the burden.

The report highlighted that on average, women currently spend 15 hours more on domestic labour each week than men in the country.
In addition, it was stated that women in the kingdom were 10 times more likely than men to take days off from work to care for a sick child, even though over half of them were not paid for that time.

It was observed that childcare changes, such as school and day care closures, were among the most difficult day-to-day challenges.
“These disruptions are not just an inconvenience, they are serious problems for those who don’t have the option of working from home, who may lose income from reduced hours, or whose children depend on school for meals and safety,” reads the report in part.

In the survey’s findings, it was also revealed that 60 per cent of respondents had no outside help in caring for and educating their children. It was added that another 10 per cent had less help than before the pandemic.
FESBC observed that even among parents with middle-class white collar jobs that offered some flexibility, managing children during this crisis was extremely difficult, especially for women who were 60 per cent more likely than men to take on childcare responsibilities.

“In fact, small, micro, medium enterprises-SMMEs and private company leaders and CEOs are facing a hard moment of truth, as they make decisions about how to respond to the needs of working mothers and fathers during this difficult time,” further reads the report.
It was further mentioned that the way organisations handled the challenges today had the potential to affect their pipeline (supply) of workers down the road, and the gender balance of their future leaders in Eswatini.

The report contained that close to half of the respondents felt that their performance at work had decreased as a result of managing these additional responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the report suggests that leave of absence could be an option that could be given to working mothers to keep them in their jobs.

Suggestions

This is one of the suggestions contained in the report by FESBC as a solution to the challenges faced by working mothers. The business community provided the solutions to employers of working mothers and requested that they should implement them to ease the burden of their employers.  

In addition, the report highlighted that FESBC was aware that for regular sick days, forward-looking SMMEs and companies already had helpful policies in place, such as paid sick days, backup childcare options and flexible work opportunities. It was mentioned that these were all extremely important tools that helped women balance work and family when it’s business as usual.

“But these are not usual circumstances right now. Even if a leave of absence is necessary, work hard to find a way to make that happen. It’s the right thing to do both for public health and for the bottom line, as termination turnover costs are estimated to be 33 per cent of an employee’s annual salary,” the report reads.
It was further suggested that employers should communicate and be flexible with their employees. The report stipulated that employers should not assume that employees working from home will be at their regular performance and capacity or on their regular schedule.

Moreover, it was suggested that managers should lay out a plan that accounts for the impact of childcare (supposedly by mothers) in the annual review process. This included the notation of that impact, adjustment of annual goals, and protection against retaliation if, for example, childcare issues affect the work that should get done.

Another suggestion was that mothers and fathers should have open and regular conversations about how to better share family responsibilities, so that the default was not always for women to take on the extra work. However, at the same time, SMMEs and organisations were advised to seize this moment to make sure that women were not opting out of their careers if they did not have to.
Also, SMMEs and company leaders were informed that they needed to step up and make sure they did not backtrack on the shaky progress that had been made in advancing women into business leadership in the kingdom.

On the other hand, some employers were not keen on the recommendations that were brought by FESBC. An employer, who requested to comment on condition of anonymity, said as much as the recommendations were for the advancement of women, they did not make sense.
“Yes, it is a critical time, but people need to learn to adapt to situations and navigate around them,” the employer said.

Strategies

However, he stated that there could be open communication among employers and employees to devise strategies on how to work effectively.
Meanwhile, some working mothers appreciated the survey done by the business community.
Tema Dlamini, an employee in one of the prominent banks in the country, agreed with its findings, stating that it was true that many working women had a lot on their plate with the advent of the coronavirus.

“I am a single parent who has a Grade VII child. I tackle work, home chores and my child’s schoolwork all at once,” the doting mother said.
Although she stated that she was not complaining, she pointed out that there were times when she felt she needed some time out.

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