WesCEF’s Technical Services Senior E&I Engineer, Michael Sinclair, will soon be shifting into a new role.

Michael is taking 14 weeks of parental leave in the New Year to assume the primary carer role for his two young children, aged 6 months and 3 years old.

Michael said he made the decision to take parental leave to support his wife with her career ambitions and spend quality time with his daughters while they were still young.

“My wife is self-employed and was keen to start ramping up her business more, so I looked into the possibility of taking some leave to help support her. It wasn’t something that was feasible in the early months after my youngest was born, but now that she’s a bit older, I felt the time was right to give it a go,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure what the response from the business would be initially, but it has been overwhelmingly positive so far and I have had great support from everyone at WesCEF.

“I am very grateful to the business, not just for providing the opportunity for me to be able to take parental leave, but also for the management, my colleagues and business contacts all being so supportive of me as a father to take on the primary carer role.

“Some have said it’s something they have considered themselves, so I hope that this will encourage others to do the same, knowing that the option for parental leave is available to them and is well supported by the business.”