SEX DISCRIMINATION Commissioner Pru Goward recently warned that generous maternity leave provisions could be lost if the Federal Government not careful in its quest to simplify awards under its WorkChoices reforms.
SEX DISCRIMINATION Commissioner Pru Goward recently warned that generous maternity leave provisions could be lost if the Federal Government is not careful in its quest to simplify awards under its WorkChoices reforms.
The Government has proposed reducing hundreds of awards to a core group of 17 – potentially scrapping many maternity leave provisions.
“Many award provisions, such as those relating to paid maternity and parental leave and carer’s leave, including those granted by the AIRC (Australian Industrial Relations Commission) in the Family Provisions Test Case, will no longer be allowable matters,” she said in a submission to the Government.
“It is critical that these entitlements must remain as preserved award entitlements, and are preserved in a way that ensures that employees and employers are aware of their entitlements and responsibilities.”
Goward called for the simplified group of awards to preserve the rights to maternity leave, which is generally 12 weeks’ pay.
The Government’s proposals for award rationalisation also contradicted themselves, Goward said, as they did “not meet the Government’s objectives of reducing complexity of awards and moving toward a simpler and fairer national workplace relations system”.
