Mentors show parents back to work

NEW parents returning to the Scottish Parliament are the first in Scotland to benefit from a scheme to help them juggle workplace pressures and family life.

The Maternity Mentoring Scheme, which offers support and advice to new parents, has cost less than 1,000 to set up.

Other employers now want to learn from the Scottish Parliament to set up their own schemes elsewhere in the country to help parents – particularly women – who often suffer feelings of guilt and low self-esteem when returning to work.

The parliament employs around 500 full-time staff – around half of them women.

So far, the scheme has been used by 19 women, although it is also open to men returning from extended paternity leave. A total of 15 members of staff have been trained to act as mentors to new parents. Their role involves acting as a link between parents and the office while they are away, and giving advice about what they are entitled to ask from their employer to help them cope with work and new family commitments.

Samantha Currie, a support manager to the equal opportunities committee, is one of the parliament's 15 maternity mentors and the mother of an eight-year-old boy.

"I was very lucky when I was on maternity leave that my team kept in touch with me and I felt confident about coming back to work, but not all working mums necessarily have the same experience," she said.

"I realised how important the scheme was when a friend of mine had no contact from her employer from the day she went off until it was time to return. She did not even know what job she was returning to – she was so worried and stressed it spoiled the last few days of her maternity leave.

"The fact that I can be a link from the new mother to the parliament and can offer someone advice is brilliant."

The Scottish Parliament, which has rolled out the initiative after a successful two-year pilot, has spent a relatively small amount setting up the scheme because it uses its own staff as mentors.

The mentoring does not currently extend to MSPs and their staff, but that could start later this year.

The parliament has also heard from other organisations wanting to develop their own schemes, including HM Revenue and Customs.