Vodafone has extended the maternity leave it offers by three weeks beyond the statutory 14 weeks and is also paying full wages for six months to those who work reduced hours.

Following in the footsteps of the Vodafone Group’s approach, the local company is offering 17 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, along with the optional four more weeks of unpaid leave, which would be paid by Social Security at a fixed rate.

For those who return to work, the company is offering the option to work just 30 hours a week for a year and, for the first six months of those, Vodafone will pay the normal rate they would have earned had they worked 40 hours.

The company is also offering five days of paternal leave, as opposed to the four days offered previously.

“It is really important for wo­men to keep plugged into the work environment,” head of human resources Claire Mifsud said.

“Of course, no single model is going to be right for everyone and the decision to go back to work depends on a number of factors, ranging from support structure to the amount of time the mother wants to spend with her child.

The option of working from home is also open to those on reduced hours and is open to all staff, not just parents

“But being flexible as an em­ployer means we give them solutions so they do not have to choose between work and family. It gives them time to fulfil their role as parents, spending time with their infants, and as they get older, having time for things like parents’ days and school concerts.”

Ms Mifsud speaks from experience. She has been with Vodafone for 18 years and has a six-year-old son. She worked reduced hours for four years after he was born.

“We offer a mobile working environment. I often work from home, sometimes for days at a stretch,” she said.

The option of working from home is also open to those on reduced hours – and is open to all staff, not just parents.

“Working from home is all about trust. In our experience, we have always found that our staff works really hard to sustain that trust. Their productivity is even higher, if anything,” she said.

She has noticed a surge in women wanting to work following the introduction of free childcare a year ago, as this has made it worthwhile for them to go to work – particularly part-timers.

“We have noted a strong de­mand from potential recruits for flexibility. They now rank it much higher than they did before, when it comes to deciding where to go to work.”

However, there have so far not been any requests for reduced hours from men.

“Men might feel working reduced hours will affect their career progression. And, of course, it also de­pends on the sa­lary differential, as it makes more sense for the person who earns the most to carry on working. Society is also not quite avante garde enough in Malta to accept men taking a step back from work to take up parenting duties. There are few – if any – stay-at-home dads.

“Having said that, the change in just one generation has been phenomenal and men participate much more in their children’s upbringing than was possible when they were the sole breadwinner. This is another advantage of having a wife who can return to work,” she added.

Vodafone prides itself on its gender balance with around 20 female managers (21 per cent), and women accounting for over a third of the executive committee.