Taking the Lead in Supporting New Parents

Hillam Architects has always strived to be a practice that supports working parents. Over the past four years, numerous people from our team have benefited from what we believe is a unique support structure for return-to-work.

“In contemplating the very poor record architecture has, particularly in terms of women returning to work after having children, we were keen to understand what support structure would most incentivise a return to work and the retention of valued team members,” says Hillam Architect’s founder and Principal, David Hillam.

“Frequently these skills have been lost to the profession. Our observation was that many of the current policies adopted by government and private practice relate to the departure of the team member.

“In our view, the biggest challenge has been the professions’ disinclination to be flexible in terms of number of workdays, especially considering the very significant cost of childcare. Because of this, we resolved to develop a policy that is highly flexible in terms of days worked and is most generous when the team member returns to work.

“We appreciate that there are costs at this time, and we are pleased to acknowledge the government’s part in supporting this,” David says.

To meet these challenges, Hillam Architects has developed a Return-To-Work policy in addition to other considerations for working parents, complementing the company paid Parental Leave policy and flexible work arrangements.

Return-to-Work Payments

This unique program was created to support birth mother/primary carer employees with their return to work after a period of parental leave to transition them back into their position and support their new family life with a ‘top up payment’ of two days per week all at full pay.

All that is required to be eligible for this program is a commitment to return to work for a minimum of two days a week.

This means that a returning mother can work two days a week and be paid for four.

Alternatively, they could return for more than two days a week and still receive an additional two days pay for the duration of their entitlement.

The Return-to-Work entitlement ranges from 114 hours (8 weeks duration) to a significant 456 hours (30 weeks) of maximum entitlement, subject to the employee’s company service period.

Payments draw down against the entitled hours or the maximum duration period, whichever comes first.

As an additional benefit, they are paid superannuation and accrue annual and personal leave against the return-to-work payments.

On top of this, if they choose to return to work mid-weekdays only (Tues, Wed, Thurs) they will receive a 50% public holiday bonus payment for any public holiday that falls on a Monday or Friday.

The generosity of our return-to-work payment program sets us apart from others, and we endeavor to stay on top of the market to ensure we support returning employees to balance their family life while being able to continue their careers.

This new Hillam Architects initiative complements our existing generous Parental Paid Leave policy.

Parental Paid Leave Policy

After a year with Hillam Architects, full- and part-time employees can access company paid parental leave, with an option for birth mothers/primary carers, and another for Dads/partners.

1. Birth mothers/Primary Carers

Birth mothers/primary carers can access up to four weeks of paid company parental leave depending on their length of service with the company.

Company paid leave is designed to be taken after the Government parental leave ends, commencing during the government unpaid parental leave period.

Our staff can choose to receive their company paid leave at half-pay if they want to extend the length of their leave.

2. Dads/Partners

Dads/partners can access up to two weeks of company paid partners’ leave with the option to take it at half pay to extend their leave period. This can be taken at any time from the birth or placement of their child up to their 2^nd birthday.

Superannuation and leave accruals are applied to both leaves to ensure that employees do not miss out on vital funding for their future needs.

Part-time eligible employees will receive the same, but pro-rata in accordance with their part-time hours.

Hillam Architects also welcomes the changes to the Federal Government Parental Paid Leave scheme coming into effect on July 1, 2025, which extends the length of government paid leave for both birth mothers and partners.

The combination of government paid leave, company paid leave and our industry-leading Return-To-Work scheme ensures that our staff are able to enjoy greater security when they need it most.

Image courtesy of Nadia Fay Photography.