Strange things come out of national political conferences but the ALP proposal to bestow two years unpaid parental leave on new parents - and enshrine legislation to make it the responsibility of the employer to agree to flexible working hours for the five years before the child starts school is something reminiscent of " the Wizard of OZ ".
Whoever thought that up must still be living in the era of single bread winners - when people lived in modest homes with white picket fences on quarter acre blocks - and women left the workforce within two years of marriage or when pregnant - whichever came first !
We are now in the age of two bread winners with a whopping mortgage, living in a McMansion and struggling to stay afloat. The idea of taking two years unpaid leave to bond with the child is straight from cloud cuckoo land. Reality is more like a month off while arrangements are made to find the baby a long daycare centre.
But - there will be those who will see the new legal arrangement as an opportunity to exploit their employer. What are known as " welfare mothers " can hold the prospect of returning to work on flexible hours as a weapon over their boss's head.
Once out of the workforce for a short period work skills are quickly lost as technology races on - and the savvy will quickly learn that it can be profitable to legally withdraw from the right to return to work - for a substantial financial reward.
Many employers have long memories and remember the ridiculous unfair dismissal laws where it was cheaper to pay a substantial sum to get rid of a bad worker rather than pursue a long and expensive ritual through the courts.
Maternity leave looks like becoming another opportunity to exploit !
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