WA's Equal Opportunity Commissioner has slammed comments by a Perth radio boss that she gives her staff condoms to stop them having babies and thinks work-life balance is "bullshit".
Allanah Lucas said she was deeply disappointed at comments by Southern Cross Austereo boss Linda Wayman, saying her opinions had "cheapened" progress towards gender equity and did little for the shift away from the ingrained traditions of the 1950s and 1960s.
On Thursday it was reported by media website Mumbrella that Ms Wayman, a mother-of-two who runs SCA's Mix 94.5 and Hit 929 radio stations, had told a Perth conference that a third of her 100 staff were either on maternity leave or covering a maternity contract and she had resorted to handing out condoms in the workplaces to deter staff from having babies.
"Thirty five per cent of my staff at the moment are on a maternity leave contract or maternity leave and that's significant," Wayman told the forum on Tuesday.
"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."
Ms Wayman told the audience she tried to support staff who were new mothers but was opposed to legislation entitling them to come back in part-time roles, branding it "an idealistic and anti-commercial stance".
"We do try to be flexible. We have all sorts of arrangements at our workplace. In some industries it's a very difficult thing.
"I've been in the same position [pregnant] myself twice. It is very, very tough. You have to make a decision, 'I'm going to have a baby and then I'm just going to go for it'. 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."
The comments come ahead of International Women's Day this Sunday.
But on Thursday, Ms Lucas told Fairfax Media Ms Wayman's comments had devalued the talent pool of women and part-time working mothers, without contributing meaningful thought, insight or debate on the issue.
Ms Lucas added that the act of distributing condoms to staff was "beyond the pale".
"Whatever birth or safe sex control you have, it's a very personal matter. I really don't know why employers would get involved in that or why they would make a comment about that," the commissioner said.
"It is very disappointing when these things are isolated down to the hours of work compared to the value of an employee, for whatever reason.
"It's a sad thing [when people think] that women who are pregnant are therefore less value to everyone.
"Women by their sexual attribute do bear children and choose to bear children and surely the human race depends on it."
And employers not offering flexible return-to-work arrangements meant employers were "missing out on all of that talent pool because of these old, ingrained attitudes", Ms Lucas said.
"I understand the problems of business. I understand the problems that everyone has in workplaces in how they can move into a more 21st century world of work, but surely all human beings want a good balance between work and life.
"What kind of community, both of work and life, are we envisaging for ourselves in this 21st century? Are we not trying to break away from 19th century traditions?
"The worst thing here is that it's almost ignoring the fact that there is still enormous discrimination and prejudice against women who are pregnant who are perfectly capable of going on working."
Ms Lucas warned there was very strong legislation to safeguard women in the workplace, including working mothers.
Southern Cross Austereo chief executive Rhys Holleran moved on Thursday to hose down the comments, saying Ms Wayman's remarks were "tongue in cheek". A company spokeswoman claimed Ms Wayman had been "taken out of context".
"Clearly these remarks were made 'tongue in cheek'. Linda is one of our most highly recognised and awarded general managers," Mr Holleran said.
"She has an exemplary record as one of Perth's most compassionate advocates on all issues surrounding equality of women in the workforce."
An SCA spokeswoman did not respond to requests from Fairfax Media for an interview with Ms Wayman.
