AN AUSTRALIAN RADIO boss has started a novel way of trying to reduce maternity leave.
The boss of Southern Cross Austereo, one of Australia’s largest radio company, Linda Wayman, has said the company give condoms out to staff to discourage them from having babies.
Speaking at the Mumbrella Perth Conference, Wayman said, “we have a big jar of condoms at work. I’m not lying, I’m not exaggerating. I do encourage people regularly, to have sex with condoms.”
In the course of the interview she said a third of her staff were either on maternity leave or covering maternity leave.
Work life balance
Speaking about staff who had taken maternity leave, the radio boss said that while she gave support to staff who were new mothers, she disagreed with legislation that would allow them to return to work on a part-time basis.
Wayman then went on to say that it was inevitable that parents who returned to work would be under pressure, and that the idea that a work-life balance could easily be achieved was “bullshit”.
There’s no such thing as work-life balance, it’s bullshit, you just do it. Make the decision to do the best you can.
Opportunity
She also went on to say that maternity leave could at times create opportunity for career advancement.
She referred to the Angelina Jolie Award the radio station awarded at their Christmas party for the person who had benefited the most from other people’s pregnancies.
This award went to the acting brand director at the station, who had been operating as integration coordinator, a position that was created by the amount of maternity leave.
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