Kevin Rudd’s draft paid parental leave bill was presented to the Senate last night, with small business is up in arms over the headaches it will create.
The Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) is disappointed with the draft paid parental leave bill, as well as the approach of the Federal Government in consulting for the paid parental leave scheme. COSBOA believe the exposure draft that was presented in the Senate last night fails because it continues to force small business owners to be involved in the process.
A spokesman for COSBOA, Peter Strong, said today “the government went to great extremes to consult with industry about the best approach to Paid Parental Leave and then decided to ignore the advice. We have heard suggestions that small business can be given the choice to opt out of the payment process and we believe that should be part of the PPL Bill. The small business owner can then make a decision about involvement in the process based on business needs and the time that will be taken to complete the required paperwork.
Jaye Radisich, former CEO of COSBOA has previously said that the Council fully supports Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s paid parental scheme which would mean that women in the workforce would receive leave at their existing salary level regardless of whether they are employed by big business, small business or if they work for themselves.
“This step would place small business employees on an equal footing with those employees who work for big businesses and government that already have generous paid parental leave schemes in place.”
“Tony Abbott’s proposal is welcome because it supports small businesses that employ women and does not appear to shift any administrative burden to small business.” Ms Radisich has said previously.
