Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Leeann Watson: Business Canterbury CEO supports National's paid parental leave policy

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Leeann Watson: Business Canterbury CEO supports National's paid parental leave policy · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So we had a bit more policy come out from
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: the National Party yesterday and they're promising now to extend
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: paid parental leave from twenty six to thirty weeks if
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: re elected.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: National will give parents the option to take all or
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: some of their paid parental leave at the same time,
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: So instead of just one parent taking thirty weeks, both
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: parents could take paid leave together for fifteen weeks.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Okay, So the policy will cost the government about one
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: hundred and nineteen million dollars a year because they pay
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the salaries. But of course businesses have to pay for
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: the covert don't they. By the way, I put a
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: question out there, would you rather one hundred and nineteen
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: million dollars was spent on an extra four weeks of
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: paid parental leave or far mac spending and everyone's saying
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: farm mac right now? So how will this affect business?
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Lee and Watson is the chief executive officer at Business
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Scannabriy Community Earlyain.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Good morning, Andrew.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: How do they feel about it? Are they on board?
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Oh? Look, I think by and large this won't have
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: a significant impact on business. I mean it is paid
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: for by the government in general. Given the entitlement for
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: leavers twelve months. People tend to take six or twelve
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: months of leave anyway, So I think this is a
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: useful policy, certainly for those people you know who are
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: about to have children. And I love the fact that
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: it can be shared across, you know, both the two partners.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: I think that's really helpful. But of course, you know,
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: for small businesses, anyone away from the office does have
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: an impact, but they're going to be away anyway, but
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: this is just means that they potentially might be away
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: a little longer.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but of course then you have to find cover,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and that's going to be a business cost as well.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: And they've already got half a year. Is it going
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to be hard for businesses to find the cover to
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: afford the cover?
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Look in general, you know, for a small business to
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: have one person away, they would probably most likely replace
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: them anyway. So most small businesses would actually be a
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: ready paying for some additional cover if they do have
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: someone on maternity leave. And in some respects actually getting
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: someone for slightly longer is possibly slightly easier. You know,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: the shorter amount of time to get someone in for
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: a fixed un role can be quite challenging. So yes,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: I mean ongoing getting people up to speed, getting people
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: trained to come on board to replace someone for a
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: period of six months can be a little challenging. But look,
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: this is happening now anyway. This is more about actually
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: supporting those people that are actually on leave.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Just geral question though, when hiring do businesses consider where
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the parental leave is forthcoming? This is something they take
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: into consideration. And could this work against people planning to
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: be parents?
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: Oh? Look, I don't think so. I mean, I would
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: hate to think that in this day and age, people
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: are making those sorts of decisions, you know, the defectors.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: You know, the population continues to grow and we need
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: to continue to grow and so people will continue to
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: have children. So I would hate to think that businesses
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: make those calls.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Very good stuff, Lea Watson, I thank you so much
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: for your time Business Cannibury CEO.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 2:55
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• 2:59
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