25% of fathers say they do not exercise their parenting rights because of the corporate culture

25% of fathers say they do not exercise their parenting rights because of the corporate culture that does not allow them, according to a survey conducted by the Division for Gender Equality at the Civil Service Commission, on the occasion of Family Day held on Wednesday.
Many fathers have stated that they fear the response in the ministry if they start taking advantage of the parenting rights they are entitled to. "I feel that fully utilizing parenting rights will prevent me from performing my job well and therefore choose to take advantage of only some of the rights," says a father who works in the civil service.
In addition, about 25% of fathers who participated in the survey claimed that their parenting rights were not intended for them because they were "women only". This is despite the fact that, according to the Civil Service By-Law, the rights are relevant to both men and women.
Furthermore, 15% of the respondents feared that if their rights were exercised as parents, their advancement could be impaired or they would suffer harassment from the principal. About 26% of fathers feel that exercising entitlement involves too much bureaucracy.
51% of divorced fathers were not exposed to parenting rights at all, and 1% of fathers stated that they did not want to take advantage of parenting entitlements. According to the survey, fathers belonging to the Y generation appear to take more advantage of parenting rights than fathers of the X generation.
The most utilized right by fathers is the right to supplement dormitories, followed by the right to shorten a working day, which only a quarter of the respondents take advantage of. Even less so is taking advantage of their eligibility to take child sick days, a day off after reserve or take advantage of the opportunity to work overtime from home and take a week's maternity leave. Only 2% responded that they had exercised maternity leave instead of the spouse.
About 40 percent of fathers, more than 2,000 men who are parents of small children in the civil service, answered it shortly. Many of them stated that they were pleasantly surprised to be contacted in this regard.
In recent years, the Civil Service Commission has initiated a number of amendments to the Civil Service By-Law aimed at promoting equality in the implementation of parenting between men and women. As part of this, in 2013, it was decided to change the language and amend the term "motherhood" in "parenthood".
The targeted approach to fathers in the current survey was that despite the expansion of parenting rights regulations and legislation, there is still a significant gap between the fathers of civil service employees and the number of fathers who fulfill their due rights. Of the approximately 7,000 parent jobs - men make up just 1,000 of them. The purpose of the survey was to understand the obstacles faced by the fathers who are preventing the exercise of their rights.
Indeed, the findings have reinforced the trend that Civil Service Commissioner Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz is trying to lead, which is a discourse on parenting and family rather than solely on maternal rights as well as a joint examination with the Treasury on comparing parental rights to maternal rights.
In this spirit, the Commissioner issued a letter on the occasion of Family Day to all the general managers in the various government units, which refers to the importance of turning the civil service into a family support organization. In the letter, the Commissioner notes that "as the largest employer in the economy, whose values ​​and norms of equality and diversity are at his feet, our role as a civil service is to create an organizational climate in which every employee knows and is aware of his rights, and is comfortable exercising in all areas. His work enables the creation of a stable anchor for every employee and employee, which will back up his work and progress in the civil service. "
He says that by 2020, the Commission is expected to reduce the forms and requirements of fathers in favor of exercising parental rights in a similar way to women. The new guidelines also include two days a week with no afternoon meetings, expansion of overtime pilots from home, procedures regarding caring family members (care givers), formulating a model for flexible employment and more.
Michal Lazarowitz, Director of the Gender Equality Division, says that "creating an organization where there is a right balance between personal life and work because the parent employee will help establish equal opportunities for everyone, men and women alike.