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After several years of debate and reports, the federal government has announced a start date and details of its proposed paid parental leave scheme in this years budget. At the moment, parents are entitled to up to 52 weeks unpaid parental leave under minimum legislative requirements with the possibility of an extension.
The main features of the new system are: · the scheme will commence from 1 January 2011; · it will cover mothers of newly born or adopted children subject to a qualifying test; · subject to this test, the scheme will cover all workers, whether full time, part time, casual, contractor or self employed; · it will cover all employers whether they are subject to federal or state industrial law; · it is up to parents to elect whether to take the paid parental leave or receive benefits paid to non-working mothers (eg baby bonus); · the entitlement will be for 18 weeks payment at the federal minimum wage rate (currently $543.78 per week); · the leave will be in addition to any paid parental leave independently provided by employers; · fathers may be able to utilise part of the leave if the mother returns to work early. To qualify, the worker must have: · earned less than $150,000 in the preceding financial year; · worked continuously for at least 10 of the 13 months prior to the birth or adoption; and · worked for at least 330 hours over the preceding 10 month period (about 1 day a week). The leave will be paid for by the government and $731 million has been committed to fund the scheme. The process will involve workers making application to Centrelink with funds being provided to employers before the date for taking leave. Employers will be responsible for administering the scheme. Legislation will be introduced next year to formalise the scheme. The scheme will obviously result in some more paperwork but the main issue for employers to consider is how the scheme will impact on any existing or proposed employer paid parental leave scheme. |
Employees