Family-friendly working is no longer solely an issue for
a firm's HR department, as Diageo's move on the matter last
week shows. But there is still a long way to go.
Fathers have been relatively invisible in the Irish workplace in
their capacity as parents and carers until very recently, with this
invisibility particularly marked by the absence of any significant
statutory paid time off.
This was in contrast to other European countries, where fathers
can enjoy up to 14 weeks of paid parental leave, as well as the
OECD countries where the average is 6.2 weeks of paid parental
leave for fathers. Dads in Ireland have some road to travel to
catch up, but step-by-step change is on the way.
