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Paid maternity leave to cripple SME retailers - ARA submission to the PC inquiry into paid parental leave

In its submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into paid maternity, paternity and parental leave, peak industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has maintained the issue should be an enterprise-by-enterprise decision unless it’s supported fully by Government funding.

ARA Executive Director Richard Evans said the compliance costs associated with industry-wide maternity, paternity and parental leave scheme would be crippling for SME (small to medium) retailers and would seriously harm their economic viability and financial survival.

"There is an obvious momentum towards a national parental leave scheme - but we dispute such a scheme needs to be supported by employer contributions. SME retailers simply can't afford it.

"Any introduction of a national paid parental leave scheme must be taxpayer funded - with essential rebates to small business operators for its compulsory administration on behalf of the Government," Evans said.

Evans said an industry-wide maternity, paternity and parental leave scheme would only place more strain on the retail sector already suffering the effects of interest rate rises, petrol prices and marginal and inflationary pressures.

"If retailers are forced to fund paid parental leave, this is expected to cause a return to a casualisation of the retail workforce to keep their doors open in a tightening economic environment.

"We want to offer our employees certainty and security, but if paid maternity leave forces us to shift towards increasing casual employment, housing loans and renting become harder for workers to achieve.

"This is not a good thing. Parents taking time off to care for children is a good thing but businesses shouldn't have to suffer," Evans said.

The ARA consulted heavily with its 400 largest members through focus group discussions and a direct survey before preparing its submission and has been invited by the Productivity Commission to provide evidence supporting its findings in a verbal presentation on Wednesday 11 June.

For over 104 years, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body in Australia's $292 billion retail sector which employs over 1.2 million people. As an incorporated employer body under the Workplace Relations Act and with a range of member services including business consulting, policy development, advocacy and education, the ARA promotes and protects over 5000 independent and national retailers throughout Australia. Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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