Maternity leave win for Vinnies

The St Vincent de Paul Society has become the first charity to offer staff in its second-hand shops 14 weeks' paid maternity leave.

Under an enterprise agreement with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association, the deal, which will cover 260 St Vincent de Paul retail outlets across NSW, also includes two weeks' paid paternity leave and a provision for one week of unpaid grandparents' leave.

According to a recent report from the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, only 7 per cent of the retail sector offers paid maternity leave.

The society's chief executive, John Picot, said the parental leave decision reflected the organisation's Catholic values. "As an organisation that helps the poorest of the poor, we are acutely aware of the pressures that working families face today," he said. "The terms of the agreement show our commitment to the family, and this has always been at the heart of the society's mission.

"The church believes people should have the economic resources to create families and, in the current difficult economic circumstances, with the cost of housing so high, we want to support them as much as possible."

The society's 400 workers will vote on the agreement, which will also offer an average pay rise of $35 a week, at the end of next month.

The society earned the wrath of the former government two years ago when it attacked Work Choices as tipping the balance in favour of employers in negotiations.

The NSW secretary of the union, Gerard Dwyer, said the agreement "provided a modern and best-practice platform for employment of staff in its centres".