It’s both International Women’s Day and Mardi Gras this weekend: events that provide a symbolic avenue to celebrate the progressive, campaign for equality among the sexes and to generally Not Be A Dick about gender rights. And yet today, Mumbrella has revealed a string of alarming quotes from Linda Wayman, a Southern Cross Austereo boss in Perth, who spoke out about maternity leave and staff pregnancies at the Mumbrella Perth conference this week.
According to Mumbrella, Mix 94.9 and Hits 929 boss Linda Wayman cited that 35% of her staff in Perth are currently either on maternity leave or tenured as part of a maternity leave contract. In an attempt to curb staff falling pregnant, Wayman admitted, “We do have a big jar of condoms at work. I’m not lying, I’m not exaggerating. I do encourage people regularly, to have sex with condoms. That is a big area of focus for me, encouraging people to have sex with condoms.”
On the one hand: free condoms, yay!; on the other hand: boss trying to manipulate your family planning and reproductive rights, nay.
“We do try to be flexible. We have all sorts of arrangements at our work place. In some industries it’s a very difficult thing,” Wayman said, adding that, “There’s no such thing as work-life balance, it’s bullshit, you just do it. Make the decision to do the best you can.”
If you need me:
Aside from the fact that all jobs should most definitely have a work-life balance, Wayman’s comments dangerously play into the idea of women being a liability in the workforce. Ask any mum-to-be if finding a job while pregnant (or feeling confident to negotiate maternity leave) is a walk in the park. It’s definitely bloody not.
Wayman’s comments also come off a recent report that claims to have found a “gay pay gap” in Australia, in which lesbians in Australia reportedly earn up to 13% more than their heterosexual counterparts. The report’s author suggests that attitudes towards lesbian women and their perceived tendency to not leave the workforce to have children has seen them be awarded with higher incomes accordingly.
Wayman also reportedly mentioned the ‘Angelina Jolie Award’ which is given out to a member of her staff for the person ‘benefiting most [from] other people’s pregnancies’: “Our acting brand director for Hit 929 at our Christmas party last year received the Angelina Jolie Award…Her substantive position is as integration coordinator. If women weren’t pregnant then she would not have got this turbo-charged career opportunity.”
Can’t SMDH enough.
Via Mumbrella.
