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Leeann Watson: Business Canterbury CEO supports National's paid parental leave policy · Best of Business

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  Speaker 2: So we had a bit more policy come out from
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  Speaker 2: the National Party yesterday and they're promising now to extend
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  Speaker 2: paid parental leave from twenty six to thirty weeks if
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  Speaker 2: re elected.
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  Speaker 3: National will give parents the option to take all or
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  Speaker 3: some of their paid parental leave at the same time.
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  Speaker 3: So instead of just one parent taking thirty weeks, both
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  Speaker 3: parents could take paid leave together for fifteen weeks.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So the policy will cost the government about one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and nineteen million dollars a year because they pay
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  Speaker 2: the salaries. But of course businesses have to pay for
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  Speaker 2: the covet don't they. By the way, I put a
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  Speaker 2: question out there, would you rather one hundred and nineteen
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  Speaker 2: million dollars was spent on an extra four weeks of
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  Speaker 2: paid parental leave or far mac spending and everyone's saying
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  Speaker 2: farmc right now? So how will this affect business? Lee
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  Speaker 2: and Watson is the chief executive officer at Business Canabury Community.
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  Speaker 4: Ear again, Good morning, Andrew.
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  Speaker 2: How do they feel about it? Are they on board?
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  Speaker 3: Oh?
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  Speaker 4: Look, I think by and large this won't have a
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  Speaker 4: significant and paid on business. I mean it is pay
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  Speaker 4: for by the government in general, given you the entitlement
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  Speaker 4: for leavers twelve months, most people tend to take six
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  Speaker 4: or twelve months of leave anyway, So I think this
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  Speaker 4: is a useful policy, certainly for those people you know
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  Speaker 4: who are about to have children. And I love the
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  Speaker 4: fact that it can be shared across, you know, both
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  Speaker 4: the two partners. I think that's really helpful. But of course,
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  Speaker 4: you know, for small businesses, any anyone away from the
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  Speaker 4: office does have an impact, but they're going to be
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  Speaker 4: away anyway, but this is just means that they potentially
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  Speaker 4: might be away a little longer.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, But of course then you have to find cover,
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  Speaker 2: and that's going to be a business cost as well.
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  Speaker 2: And they've already got half a year. Is it going
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  Speaker 2: to be hard for businesses to find the cover to
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  Speaker 2: afford the cover?
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  Speaker 4: Look in general, you know, for a small business to
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  Speaker 4: have one person away, they would probably probably most likely
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  Speaker 4: replace them anyway. So most small businesses would actually be
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  Speaker 4: a ready paying for some additional cover if they do
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  Speaker 4: have someone on maternity leave, and so respects actually getting
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  Speaker 4: someone for slightly longer is possibly slightly easier. You know,
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  Speaker 4: the shorter amount of time to get someone in for
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  Speaker 4: a fixed term role can be quite challenging. So yes,
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  Speaker 4: I mean ongoing, getting people up to speed, getting people
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  Speaker 4: trained to come on board, to replace someone for a
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  Speaker 4: period of six months can be a little challenging. But look,
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  Speaker 4: this is happening now anyway. This is more about actually
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  Speaker 4: supporting those people that are actually on leave.
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  Speaker 2: Just geral question though, when hiring do businesses consider where
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  Speaker 2: the parental leave is forthcoming? This is something they take
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  Speaker 2: into consideration. And could this work against people planning to
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  Speaker 2: be parents?
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  Speaker 4: Oh? Look, I don't think so. I mean, I would
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  Speaker 4: hate to think that in this day and age, people
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  Speaker 4: are making no sorts of decisions. You know the factors.
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  Speaker 4: You know, the population continues to grow and we need
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  Speaker 4: to continue to grow and so people will continue to
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  Speaker 4: have children. So I would hate to think that businesses
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  Speaker 4: make those calls.
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  Speaker 2: Very good stuff, Lea Watson, I thank you so much
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  Speaker 2: for your time. Business Cannibury CEO.
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