Page 961 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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• Increasing the number of employees returning to work after maternity leave;
• Reducing recruitment and training costs;
• Improving staff morale and productivity;
• Providing a cost-effective means of retaining skilled staff: and
• Improving organisational efficiency through the benefits of long service—for example, institutional memory, industry knowledge, networks and contacts.
These factors are valuable not just to the families of the employer but to the economy as a whole. The ACT Greens policy supports local and national initiatives that assist parents to balance work and family commitments, including paid parental leave. This policy reflects the importance of recognising the rest of the family in these situations, and providing leave and flexible working arrangements is the focus of this motion in support of maternity leave.
In 2008 ACT election the Labor Party produced their Fair and safe workplaces: statement of principles. In this document they promised to increase paid maternity leave for ACT public servants from 14 weeks to 18 weeks. This promise was one of a list of measures aimed at assisting workers to find a balance between work and family. While I acknowledge that compared with many employers the ACT government is doing relatively well with its maternity leave programs, Labor promised to increase the number of weeks. This increase will bring the ACT above the World Health Organisation recommendations and will also bring us in line with the proposals from the 2008 Productivity Commission report.
Another election promise was to provide funding for specialist industrial relations advice for the community sector, and I would encourage the government to progress this and to work further to enhance IR provision for these crucial services. I have anecdotal evidence that suggests that paid maternity leave is a major issue for employees in the community sector. I urge the ACT government to assist these services in any manner possible to ensure that employees’ families have the time and flexibility they need and that the community services can retain their much needed staff.
Both federal and ACT Labor have publicly announced and reinforced their commitment to paid parental and maternity leave over the last couple of years. I call on the ACT government to stand by that commitment and urge their commonwealth colleagues to accept the recommendations of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry.
Key points from the draft Productivity Commission Report in September 2008 include:
• … the introduction of a taxpayer-funded paid parental leave scheme that would:
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