Submission to the Senate
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AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION SUBMISSION TO THE SENATE EMPLOYMENT, WORKPLACE RELATIONS AND EDUCATION LEGISLATION COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO THE WORKPLACE RELATIONS AMENDMENT (PAID MATERNITY LEAVE) BILL 2002 July 2002 Australian Education Union Ground Floor, 120 Clarendon Street, Southbank, Victoria, 3006 PO Box 1158, South Melbourne, Victoria, 3205 Phone: +61 3 9693 1800 Fax: +61 3 9693 1805 Federal Secretary: Robert Durbridge Federal President: Denis Fitzgerald Ref: 0083let/FM:SG 26 July, 2002 The Secretary Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Legislation Committee Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Secretary Re: Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Amendment (Paid Maternity Leave) Bill 2002 Attached in electronic format please find the Australian Education Union (AEU) Submission to the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Amendment (Paid Maternity Leave) Bill. We would welcome the opportunity of furthering our response in person. Should you have any inquiries regarding this submission, please contact Fiona McNamara, AEU Federal Women’s Officer in the first instance Yours sincerely DENIS FITZGERALD Federal President Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 About the AEU.................................................................................................................................1 Current provisions of paid maternity leave for education workers..................................................1 Support for the draft legislation .......................................................................................................2 Key Issues in the proposed amendment ...........................................................................................2 Support for 14 weeks ....................................................................................................................2 Funding.........................................................................................................................................2 International conventions .............................................................................................................3 Transferability of entitlement.......................................................................................................3 Exclusion of employees of Commonwealth, State and Territory employees..............................3 Eligibility......................................................................................................................................4 Multiple births..............................................................................................................................4 Dual system..................................................................................................................................5 Adoptive/foster parents................................................................................................................5 Family friendly provisions ...........................................................................................................5 Additional Considerations............................................................................................................5 Specific Issues/ Concerns .................................................................................................................6 Clause 3 (Interpretation) (1) … CONTINUOUS SERVICE.......................................................6 Clause 3 (Interpretation) (2) … MULTIPLE EMPLOYMENTS................................................6 Clause 10 (3) (a) – payment ceases at expiry of fixed term contract...........................................7 Clause 11 (1)(a) – averaging of employee’s earnings over 12 months if below Federal Minimum Wage ............................................................................................................................7 Clause 11 (3) - payment treated as wage and salary income ......................................................8 Clause 4 (b) – the public sector exclusion....................................................................................8 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................9 Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................................10 Introduction he AEU welcomes the opportunity to provide a written submission to the Senate TEmployment, Workplace Education and Legislation Committee in regard to the Workplace Relations Amendment (Paid Maternity Leave) Bill 2002. The AEU has recently made a submission to the Human Rights and Equa l Opportunity Commission’s Valuing Parenthood: Options for Paid Maternity Leave: Interim Paper 2002 which was completed after a wide consultation process. This submission informs the comments made in relation to this proposed amendment to the Workplace Relations Act and is attached as a reference. (See Appendix 1) The AEU position in regards to paid maternity leave is thus well developed through broad consultation. About the AEU The Australian Education Union represents 155,000 educators employed in public pre-schools, schools and colleges throughout Australia. AEU members work as teachers, principals, administrators and allied educational staff in schools, preschools, kindergartens and TAFE. The AEU believes that a national paid maternity system should be available in the first instance to all working women. While many of those working in the education field have access to this benefit this is not true for all women working in education. It is also extremely unjust that women who work in the majority of Australian workplaces do not share this entitlement. The AEU supports a universal system of paid maternity leave for all women although separate mechanisms for the administering of both schemes would be necessary. Current provisions of paid maternity leave for education workers. The provision of paid maternity leave to education workers is part of recent history. Although New South Wales (9 weeks), the Australian Capital Territory (12 weeks) and Northern Territory (12 weeks) (the latter two through Commonwealth Public Service Agreements) and Victoria (12 weeks) have a long history of access to paid maternity leave this is not the case for all education workers in all states and territories. More recently Queensland received six weeks paid maternity leave in 1986. South Australia first received 2 weeks paid maternity leave through an arbitrated decision in 2001, subsequently extended to 4 weeks. Tasmanian (12 weeks) and Western Australian (4 weeks) educators gained their entitlements during 2001. Access to unpaid leave of extended periods for maternity is also a relatively recent occurrence and many of our members will still bear the brunt of the inadequacies of these policies into their retirement. AEU Submission to the Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Amendment (Paid Maternity Leave) Bill 2002 1 This coupled with the past practices which saw women compelled to resign when they married were further compounded by the need to resign if women wanted to spend extended periods with their families. Thus the AEU sees the provision of 14 weeks paid maternity leave as a vital starting point for working women and their families. Support for the draft legislation The AEU welcomes the Workplace Relations Amendment (Paid Maternity Leave) Bill 2002 as it will deliver income for Australian women at the time of the birth of their child. The AEU endorses many aspects of the Bill. However, the AEU has also some key concerns in relation to the Bill. Key Issues in the proposed amendment: Support for 14 weeks The AEU supports the provision of 14 weeks paid maternity leave on or around the birth of the child and the adoption of the ILO Maternity Convention 183 and Recommendation 191. Funding The AEU believes: · The level of payment for paid maternity leave should be at current salary or the minimum wage whichever is greater. The AEU accepts that this proposal is a safety net payment but believes women’s income should not be reduced while on paid maternity leave. Paid leave should be funded at the very least, at current minimum wage or current salary whichever is greater. · The minimum wage component should be Federal Government funded through the taxation system and the remainder funded by the employer. · All employers should pay a levy which would supplement the Federal Government’s payment to average weekly earnings. The levy should be paid by all employers for all employees based upon their payroll with exemptions for small business. · Salary in excess of this would be achieved through bargaining and paid by the individual employer. While the AEU acknowledges that during the unpaid component of maternity leave workers would forego salary, the AEU does not support a formula which results in any reduction in salary level during the paid part of the maternity leave. Such a proposition would further disadvantage women who are already significantly disadvantaged financially (in other ways) by periods of unpaid leave for family purposes. AEU Submission to the Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Amendment (Paid Maternity Leave) Bill 2002 2 The maternity leave payment should be the responsibility of government