Business ahead of government on parental leave extensions

With paid parental leave set to increase from 16 weeks to 18 weeks from April 1, calls are mounting for the government to extend their proposal.

Final submissions were made last week on Labour MP Sue Moroney's bill to extend paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

UNICEF NZ's National Advocacy Manager Deborah Morris-Travers said this would raise the likelihood of breastfeeding in a way that’s consistent with World Health Organisation guidelines.

“We know that breastfeeding drops off quite significantly from about six weeks of a baby’s life and we’d like to see measures in place to enable people to breastfeed longer,” said Ms Morris-Travers.

Ms Morris-Travers said she welcomes the growing number of businesses taking the initiative to extend parental leave for employees.

“It really demonstrates the potential for businesses to be leaders in the interests of families and children. My Food Bag is doing a great thing and hopefully other companies will follow their lead.”

Auckland food delivery start-up My Food Bag announced a paid parental leave scheme last week that will double the Government’s proposal of 18 weeks.

The scheme also included an option to allocate an additional 60 per cent of salary to an employee’s partner.

“For us it’s all about creating a happier and healthier work force for our team and ensuring we look after our team as best as we possibly can,” said co-founder of the company Cecilia Robinson.

When asked if the government’s increased paid parental leave scheme had influenced the company’s decision, Ms Robinson stated inspiration had been sourced from elsewhere.

“It was actually inspired by some of the overseas companies doing it. Spotify had a big scheme that they announced last year and I think Facebook has been doing some cool stuff as well so that’s probably more the inspiration for it than the government side really.”

Despite the positive moves of some companies, Ms Morris-Travers said she believes the Government still needs to invest in this area and not just rely on businesses to do so.

“We are keen for paid parental leave to continue to be evaluated and for there to be a review of the current Working for Families tax package, so that the poorest families actually have more support in those first six months as well.”