The PTO Reveals Paid Maternity Leave Policy

Another step forward with the strategic roadmap of the Professional Triathletes Organisation (www.protriathletes.org), with the announcement and implementation of a Paid Maternity Leave Policy.

While the majority of PTO-related headlines to date have been around events (Collins Cup / PTO 2020 Championship / support for independent races during COVID), and prize money / bonus pools, the PTO’s mission has always been more structural than that. There can be more to athlete support & development than ‘extra’ on the prize purse listings. This, perhaps, is the most public deliverable to date on that plan.

There will be plenty more items on the PTO’s wish list I’m sure, some of which have been discussed previously – for example, health care and insurance provision – all of which take time and investment. Over the longer term, all of these will need to become sustainable and self-financing through income generation, but this represents another step towards what the PTO hopes to become.

Whether it ever gets there remains to be seen, but it’s another indication that the money behind the business plan is committed to building for the long-term. On that basis alone, the PTO’s development is a story worth following.

PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETES ORGANISATION
ANNOUNCES PAID MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY

The Professional Triathletes Organisation today announced that it has adopted a Maternity Leave Policy for women PTO Professionals. Under the policy, a woman PTO Professional shall be entitled to take up to 15 months of Maternity Leave, beginning from her pregnancy date and ending six months after birth. At the time of her pregnancy, her PTO World Ranking will be fixed, and during her Maternity Leave she will be paid monthly payments based on 100% of the PTO Annual Bonus Plan in effect at the time. For example, under the PTO’s existing Annual Bonus Plan, the woman PTO Professional ranked World No.5 would be entitled to a $60,000 bonus payment at the end of a calendar year. In the event the woman PTO Professional ranked World No.5 woman athlete becomes pregnant and takes her full 15 months Maternity Leave, she shall be paid $5,000 per month for 15 months from her pregnancy date, totalling $75,000.

Rachel Joyce, Co-President of the PTO, commented, “We are delighted to have adopted this Maternity Leave Policy. It recognises the unique reality women athletes face in trying to maintain a professional athletic career while balancing family planning. The PTO’s Maternity Leave Policy will ensure that in the future women PTO Professionals who seek to start families can do so with financial support and additionally maintain their PTO World Ranking. It truly is an innovative maternity policy.”

Charles Adamo, Executive Chairman of the PTO, added, “The PTO is almost unique among professional sporting organisations in that it represents both men and women professionals, who work together to see the sport of triathlon grow and thrive. While triathlon has always had a great reputation in having equal prize purses for men and women, it has not managed to consider the reality that pregnancy and childbirth can cause a woman’s professional athletic career to be disrupted. The PTO’s Maternity Leave Policy is just another example of the many ways that PTO Professionals, by uniting together in their own organisation, have been able to have a positive impact on our sport. From our $2,500,000 COVID-19 payments to PTO Professionals, to the 15 local races around the world we have supported this year with over $300,000 of prize money, to the upcoming $1,150,000 PTO 2020 Championship, which has prize money for every qualifier, and now our Maternity Leave Policy – none of this would have been possible had the PTO Professionals not united to form the PTO. All of this has been accomplished in the face of an incredibly difficult year and is a tribute to the positive impact a united body of PTO Professionals can have in our community.”

In addition to the Maternity Leave policy, the PTO has adopted a Parental Leave Policy that allows PTO Professionals who become parents to take up to four months Parental Leave from racing without having it affect their PTO World Ranking and related Annual Bonus payment.