Page 966 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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productivity and reduced absenteeism. Most significantly however, a reduction in employee separations will have a positive impact on real and indirect costs for agencies with the replacement of staff calculated as costing anywhere between 50 and 200 per cent of salary.
The proposed extent of provisions put forward by the government effectively match the interim recommendations of the Productivity Commission released in September 2008 for a national scheme providing 18 weeks of paid leave at the minimum wage. Consideration needs to be given as to how and when to introduce extended maternity leave provisions within the ACT public service, particularly given the current fiscal climate. The most obvious and logical means of implementing the added entitlement would be through the negotiations for the 2010 round of enterprise agreements. Other options will need to be considered for any partial introduction.
Apart from the extra weeks of entitlement, consideration will also need to be given to providing additional support for agencies in the backfilling of positions. Otherwise, there is likely to be a negative impact on productivity and retention given the likely period of extended leave, and, if not properly managed, that could lead to discriminatory practices in the recruitment of women of childbearing age in some. Irrespective, it is likely that access to the extended provisions will remain subject to the qualification of 12 months service. Nevertheless, the extension of paid maternity leave is a cost which will impact across all agencies and affect operational capacity.
It is possible, but unlikely in the short term, that there will be some federal funding explored with extending paid maternity leave from 2010-11, subject to the recommendations of the Productivity Commission inquiry and the commonwealth’s response. Accordingly, consideration is also being given to other initiatives to retain women of childbearing age in the workforce. These might include providing access to other types of leave for maternity purposes, a possible right of return or reduced classification to better balance work and home responsibilities and keeping women engaged in the workplace while on maternity leave. Greater access to existing leave provisions could be achieved in a number of ways, including easing access to paid personal leave and long service leave.
In terms of a right to reduce classification following maternity leave, currently the ACT public service provides for leave without pay and part-time work options for employees following the birth of a child. These provisions provide for an employee to remove themselves from the workplace or reduce their hours of work during this important stage of a child’s life. An alternative approach that might be considered is to provide employees with a right to reduce to a lower or possibly less demanding classification level during the first three years of a child’s life. At the end of the reduction period, the employee would have the right to revert to their former level. This proposal has the benefit of enabling the ACT public service to retain the services of valued staff while enabling them to more easily achieve work-life balance.
It is also worth considering that currently the ACT public service recognises instances in which both the mother of the child and her partner are employees of the ACT public service by providing for a period of leave without pay for maternity leave or parental leave purposes to be shared between both employees. Extension of this
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