Businesses of all sizes and the not-for-profit sector are one step closer to securing $48 million in red-tape savings after the Federal Government successfully passed the Paid Parental Leave Amendment 2014 through the House of Representatives last night.
If the legislation passes the Senate business will no longer have to act as the ‘pay-clerk’ for the paid parental leave scheme which is unnecessarily complex, and forces business to bear the costs of the extra workload.
There is no reason why business should have to act as the ‘pay-clerk’ when the Family Assistance Office can do the job. In fact, the Family Assistance Office did the job when the scheme first started.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted a survey of its members on the Paid Parental Leave scheme in May 2013. In the survey, 84.3 per cent of businesses either agreed or strongly agreed that “the Government should not require employers to be the paymaster for the Paid Parental Leave scheme.
By removing the ‘pay-clerk’ burden businesses of all sizes would be relieved of the red-tape burden of acting as the ‘pay-clerk’ for the paid parental leave scheme unless the employer and employee both ‘opt in’ to having the employer administer payments.
If Labor was genuine in its words about removing barriers for business then it should support the abolition of the ‘pay-clerk’ burden from the paid parental leave scheme when the legislation reaches the Senate.