To ensure the nation has sufficient workers, it is essential that women are employed and properly paid. Women have always worked but their contribution to the national economy has been mostly ignored. As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age, it is essential that women are encouraged to remain in the workforce. Paid Parental Leave is now available to all women in the paid workforce. It should be available as an entitlement for casual, part time and self employed women as well as full time workers. Paid Parental Leave is similar to superannuation paid to aid a person’s financial situation at retirement and is a mandatory contribution by employers. This is an issue that goes to the heart of social justice and quality of life for women and their families, especially the most vulnerable.
The wage-penalty effect of parental leave? David Baker, a research fellow for The Australia Institute, says that mothers taking parental leave suffered a long-term loss of wages in the past. The study identified a statistical loss of hourly wages for mothers between 2002 and 2009 who returned to work, whether they returned on a part-time or full-time basis. The Australian Government Paid Parental Scheme (PPL) was introduced in January 2011 and WEL hopes this discrimination will not continue. It is WEL policy that returning mothers must be offered the same opportunities as colleagues doing the same work. The PPL provides paid leave of 18 weeks – not enough time to disadvantage a woman’s job experience. However, in November 2018, Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has suggested allowing the PPL to be split into flexible blocks of time after the first six weeks.
The importance of the PPL for the country is that it keeps women engaged in the workforce. That is why the government pays, but the employer must keep contact with the woman by keeping her on the payroll and paying her wages. Mr Baker suggests that women on PPL should be able to visit the workplace for social reasons but not do any work. This could be an option for women to keep up-to-date with important skills and training, such as attending staff meetings. Changing the current culture is the main aim here and WEL supports the final recommendation of the Australian Institute report that there should be mandatory reporting by companies about any wage penalties for women or men returning from the PPL. In addition, women need to negotiate satisfactory wage arrangements with their employers. Fathers are able to take Paid Parental Leave. This may help to change the culture and expectation that only women should sacrifice career options when having a baby. Superannuation is not included in the scheme and is also a concern to WEL.
Almost 50,000 Australian women have applied for Federal Government Paid Parental Leave, previous Families Minister Jenny Macklin reports. Ms Macklin said 48,286 of them had signed up for the benefit since the scheme became available on January 1, 2011. The scheme offers eligible working parents paid parental leave for up to 18 weeks at the minimum weekly wage of $570. Herald Sun.
The previous Federal Sex Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said that small business should not be adversely impacted by the cost or administrative burden of any scheme, causing disincentives to the employment of women. Also that workforce attachment is critical for women – they bear children, give birth and breastfeed and they can neither recover nor breastfeed satisfactorily if they are rushed back to work in order to pay bills. The International Labor standard is that countries should provide at least 14 weeks of paid parental leave.
An extensive survey on Parental Leave was released by the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland. CLICK for the report, highlighting the importance of extending paid leave provisions.
The Submission to the Productivity Commission by Women’s Electoral Lobby Australia is Submission No. 111 in the Productivity Commission archives. WEL appeared before the Productivity Commission in Sydney. And the article “Blind to Gender?” by Canberra academic and WEL member, Marian Sawer, in the Australian Policy Online archives, presents the compelling case for this leave.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens, S.A.) told Channel 10 that she was introducing a Private Members’ Bill in Senate in support of a Paid Parental Leave Scheme funded by Government. She says this is a short term stimulus for the economy, an investment in healthy families and will place a value on parenthood. This should be seen as a workplace entitlement, along with the World Health Organisation which sets a 26-week standard (28 in Canada, 47 in Sweden, 37 in UK).