My Parental Leave Experience at Immutable

Hello there,?

I don't usually document and share significant life moments in the public domain; however, there's a first time for everything. OK, here goes…..

TL;DR My experience working at Immutable , from the founders, the people team, and the culture we have created, is genuinely people-centric. Employees can express their views and have them listened to, but more importantly, actioned on. I'm proud of the people, strategy and culture we cultivate at Immutable.

Before I joined Immutable, my main hesitation was the lack of a formal Parental leave policy. In Australia, the legal minimum for Dads is?two weeks paid leave. However, my job at the time provided me with three months of paid leave and my wife, and I were ready to start a family. I wanted to protect this critical time with my family as much as possible.

I asked the question throughout the interview process if and when this change would come, and I was assured that there would be a policy in the not-too-distant future. The lack of policy was purely due to the company being an early startup without a Chief People Officer. I accepted the job not knowing if the Parental leave options would be equivalent or less beneficial than my previous job.

Shortly after joining, my wife and I started trying for a baby, and we found out she was pregnant in late 2021! Still no change in policy, though! I began to get nervous. I had not told many people about the news that my wife and I would welcome a new addition to the family, wanting to wait until after the three-month mark.?Kath Rau, our Chief of People, joined the company shortly after. A month or so later, I started to tell people at Immutable about the exciting news that we were expecting a baby boy (and I selfishly continued to ask if the policy would change). To my delight, it was around that time Kath announced our enhanced Parental Leave Policy.?

Once I heard the news of the enhanced Parental leave policy, I felt:?

• Heard?– Immutable would pay three months of parental leave and had the flexibility to use it within 18 months! Plus an additional 6 weeks for rest leading up to birth and recovery time post-birth for the birthing parent.?
• Cared for?– Women and their partners that experience a miscarriage are provided leave support. There were also retrospective options for new parents that missed out on the policy change.
• Proud?– This policy was open to all family types and you could take the leave 6 months into joining Immutable. Immutable also continues to vest our ESOP for the first year of parental leave and superannuation will continue to be paid!

The new policy had deliberate language to carve out primary and secondary caregivers, which ensured the policy was open and accessible to all couples, regardless of gender. The policy also catered to couples looking to grow their family through adoption, irrespective of the couple's gender. There are additional leave options for couples embarking on the IVF journey so they feel fully supported on that journey.?

There are many more reasons Immutable would be?ranked the #1 startup to work for in Australia. This post is just a small slice of the 'insight pie' that speaks to the quality of the People and Culture team at Immutable. I haven't talked about the really special sauce that makes it great to work at Immutable - the people, the education, the passion and the vision. That is maybe for another time.

Read more about Life at Immutable here: https://www.immutable.com/careers