Should there be a period of designated non-transferable leave for fathers?
Women workers are likely to suffer discrimination as a result of new workplace rights that enable them to take two years of unpaid parental leave instead of 12 months, according to a prominent feminist academic.
Marian Baird, associate professor in work and organisational studies at the University of Sydney, said ''extending female usage of unpaid leave by another 12 months may be counter-productive''.
Mothers and fathers will be entitled to 12 months' unpaid parental leave under new National Employment Standards that come into force in January. But if one parent does not take up the entitlement, the other can request up to 12 months' extra unpaid leave.
''I'm not convinced this is good policy if improved gender equity is the aim,'' said Dr Baird, who tonight delivers the annual Clare Burton Memorial Lecture, honouring the leading academic and public servant, at the University of Technology, Sydney.
She said women and men were in the workforce in almost equal proportions but ''under unequal conditions''. For social and financial reasons, fathers were unlikely to take the unpaid parental leave; less than 10 per cent used their current entitlement, which meant some mothers were more likely to take the extra 12 months.
''A mother potentially could be out of work for two years, much more if she has a second child, and the way workplaces operate that's a long time,'' Dr Baird said.
The new entitlement could ''entrench employer resistance to employing women in career track positions'', and further entrench gender roles at home and in the workplace.
Overseas research had shown that women's workforce attachment could wane after spending more than a year away from the job, she said. For infant health, research indicated that six to 12 months' maternity leave was the optimum.
Dr Baird said she was not ''having a go'' at mothers or wanting to force women back to work early. But if women's and men's workforce participation patterns diverged further, ''we may end up with further inequality rather than greater equality''.
Women were already disadvantaged in pay, superannuation, job security, and access to leave because of trying to combine work and family.
To encourage fathers of infants or young children to take time off, there should be a designated period of non-transferable paid leave.
In the federal paid-maternity scheme to begin in 2011, Dr Baird said, the pay should be moved from minimum wage to replacement wage level; super should be covered; and job protection extended to all parents.
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