Paid maternity leave?

Simon Crean yesterday announced an initiative to introduce paid maternity leave across Australian organisations if Labor return to government at the next federal election. Details of the policy are very sketchy at this stage, but enough has been revealed to entice comment from the media and the community.

I'm all for changes to the way employers remunerate the members of their organisations. Workforces are becoming increasingly diverse as companies deal with the global business environment, and as people gradually move away from the concept of full-time employment with one organisation.

Must like the accounting profession, I believe remuneration should be practice driven rather than completely government legislated. The Australian public needs to appreciate that nobody owes them a job or a pay cheque.

While I appreciate that not everybody has children by choice (and I don't want to enter into an abortion debate here), I don't agree that employers (whether large or small) should be required to fund our maternal (or paternal) instincts.

Legislating paid maternity leave is an unfair move. Those that choose to have families will effectively be paid more than those that don't. When, and if, I choose to have a family, I'll do so if I'm able to fund it myself, rather than relying on an employer or the government for financial help.

That being said, if employers choose to offer paid maternity leave in order to entice particular employees to join (or stay with) their organisations, they're more than welcome. That's the beauty of competition.

Conversely, if Labour gets into government on a paid maternity leave agenda, that's the beauty of democracy.