The Professional Triathletes Organisation has announced a new 15-month maternity leave policy for its female members.
In a groundbreaking move to support female professional triathletes, the PTO has created a new maternity leave structure for its members. The new policy entitles women to take up to 15 months off while retaining an income through pregnancy and up to six months after the baby has arrived.
What’s more, the athlete’s PTO rankings will be fixed so as not to penalise them for becoming pregnant, maintaining their profile as one of the sport’s top athletes.
The money earned during maternity is based on the athlete’s PTO rankings at the time they become pregnant and what this equates to in terms of the PTO Annual Bonus Plan.
How Does The PTO Maternity Leave Policy Work?
Here comes the maths on the PTO maternity leave policy, which offers more income than the athlete would’ve been entitled to in end-of-year bonus money to help offset the lack of prize money earned from racing.
- 5th ranked PTO woman earns $60,000 end of year bonus
- That equals earnings of $5,000 per month during maternity leave
- This totals $60,000 for 12 months
- Because maternity leave is up to 15 months, this equals $75,000
On top of this, athletes will also be provided with the percentage of the Annual Bonus that’s already deemed to have been earned in the calendar year she becomes pregnant. So if the number-five ranked athlete falls pregnant on 1 April, her already-earned bonus would give an additional $15,000.
What The PTO Says
PTO co-president and three-time Kona podium-getter Rachel Joyce said: “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.”
PTO executive chairman, Charles Adamo, 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.”
Alongside the maternity leave policy, PTO also announced a parental leave policy, fixing parents’ PTO rankings for up to four months when becoming parents. This gives new dads the opportunity to take time out from the sport without being penalised as well as those couples adopting children under 12 months of age.
The PTO’s new maternity policy follows up on a year where the organisation has really started to make its mark on the sport and begun to unite professional triathletes towards common goals.
Through COVID-19 payments to athletes, supporting local events with prize purses and pushing ahead with the first PTO Championship event at Challenge Daytona despite the challenges of Coronavirus, the PTO has shown it’s an organisation its athletes can rely on.
