Maternity leave should be a right
Hundreds of thousands of business owners struggling to fill vacant job positions should offer paid maternity leave as a way to attract and retain staff.
The suggestion, put forward by online women's job search and career resource, justbe.com.au, emphasises the recent dramatic shift in power within employment circles.
Lisa Pititto, co-founder and managing director of Just Be, said employers no longer hold the upper hand in the workplace, so workers should take advantage of the labour shortage.
"Women want paid maternity leave," she said.
"If you want to attract and retain women, particularly in this extremely tight candidate market, you need to look at offering some form of paid maternity leave. Don't wait for the government, whoever it may be, to tell you what to do."
A recent study conducted by the specialist website showed that the issue resonated among millions of Australians.
The survey, which canvassed more than 200 people, revealed a whopping 92 per cent believed women were entitled to receive paid maternity leave.
And 72 per cent preferred this benefit over other salary packaging attractions, such as tax-deductible childcare.
Ms Pititto said that more than half of those surveyed wanted the Federal Government to do more to help.
"Interestingly, 58 per cent of our respondents said paid maternity leave should be government funded," she said.
"And 70 per cent said it should be a $1-for-$1 co-contribution system, similar to the government-supported superannuation program."
Other issues raised by the research include the possibility of employers introducing creches in the workplace and the need for flexible work arrangements, such as working from home or part-time.
Under current legislation, parents can take up to 52 weeks of unpaid maternity or paternity leave following the birth of their child.
However, due to the ramifications of taking an extended break, many employees either rush back to work within a few months after giving birth or simply resign afterwards.
Amanda Tattersall, deputy assistant secretary at Unions NSW, said in view of these trends, the issue of paid maternity leave needed to be revisited.
She said more than 60 per cent of professional women received an average of 14 weeks' paid leave, but that more should be done for ordinary workers.
"We at Unions NSW believe there is really a role for government in providing to ensure paid maternity leave is accessible for all, including women who are out of the workforce, as well as women who are in the workforce," Ms Tattersall said.
She said the United States was leading the way, with employers there providing workers with 39 weeks of paid leave, so Australia was lagging behind other countries.
Because of this, she said that businesses should now be looking to introduce six months' worth of paid leave as a standard benchmark.
"We think that employers should consider moving further and that paid maternity leave reflects what health experts are saying, which is that women need six months' leave to be able to breastfeed," she said.
"We think that that should be a new standard in Australia and we would be hoping for employers to be moving towards providing those rights."
Sourced from CareerOne.com.au