A U.S. bank is breaking a taboo by adopting a progressive and compassionate policy. Unfortunately, the move is unlikely to inspire Swiss banks, finews.com finds.
Goldman Sachs is offering women three days paid leave after suffering a miscarriage, «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall) reported. The merit in this decision lies less in granting three days leave, but more in signaling to women that they come forward with their experience while encouraging them to mourn their loss.
Every fifth pregnancy results in a miscarriage, according to the Swiss hospital group Hirslanden. And yet the topic is still taboo both outside and inside the workplace in Switzerland.
No Need To Regulate?
Social norms suggest that women should not announce that they are expecting before passing the three-month mark into their pregnancy. The fact that most miscarriages take place precisely in this first trimester makes the experience even more agonizing for the affected.
A brief survey among Swiss banks shows that a fixed regulation around paid leave after a miscarriage does not exist. «We think that there is no need to regulate these cases,» the director of the Employers Association of Banks, Balz Stueckelberger, told finews.com.
Missing The Point
On the whole, banks are forthcoming in responding to such incidents, he added. While this might be true, it misses the point. The answer equates to «we have a solution in place if someone needs it.»
«A blanket regulation could even be counterproductive,» Stueckelberger says. It could pressure women into sharing something they would prefer to keep to themselves. This statement omits the fact that even if the policy were to exist, individuals wouldn’t have to make use of it. Institutionalizing the policy, however, would help to erode the stigma and break the taboo.
Sticking To The Status Quo
The response is emblematic of how the Swiss workplace resists any disturbance to the status quo. While there is no doubt that employee protection is higher in Switzerland than it is in the U.S., the issue at stake is how a company goes about addressing its employee's needs.
Abroad we are seeing big changes to the way banks are progressing in this area, including training staff in mental health issues to help fellow co-workers from burning out.
Competitive For Talent
Silicon Valley's technology companies were pioneers in responding to employees' needs. When Facebook first offered staff to cover the costs for freezing their eggs or for fertility assistance in 2014, there was the perception that it was telling women to postpone motherhood. But all it was actually doing was responding to a request among its workers.
In the meantime, many technology companies offer to pay for similar services because employees are asking for it. For Swiss companies to stay competitive, the corporate mindset needs to become less complacent and grow more daring in thinking about what might appeal to workers and attract new talent.
Swiss Reserve
It is no surprise that Swiss banks are unlikely to be pioneers in introducing progressive employee benefits. Besides banking culture being male-dominated – where men who work part-time form the exception – Swiss culture is also inherently reserved.
Both factors aren’t helpful to overcoming personal trauma.
