Paid Maternity Leave – The Stats
By Lisa O'Brien
 Currently
Australia is one of only two developed countries that do not offer paid
maternity leave. It’s a real shame that Australia is so lagging so far
behind the rest of the world in legislating and financing paid
maternity leave. That means that most employers either can’t afford to
or simply won’t offer paid maternity leave.
That is why we enlisted the help of our Careers Expert Lisa O’Brien from CareersCoach www.careerscoach.com.au to get down to business and give you the stats on paid maternity.
Here is what Lisa had to say….
While
it is true that the Australian government has not legislated paid
maternity leave there are a number of progressive Australian companies
who are already offering paid maternity leave. Some of these companies
are listed below:
Woolworth’s (8-weeks) Macquarie University (26-weeks) Westpac (12-weeks) Mission Australia (9-weeks) American Express (6-weeks at 50% pay + an additional 6-weeks at 50% pay if the mother returns to work) National Australia Bank (12-weeks) UBS AG (15-weeks) Australian Catholic University (12-months paid – 12 weeks at full pay, 40 weeks at 60% pay) Cummins Engine Company Ltd (15-weeks) Acumen Alliance (ACT) Pty Ltd (3-months) VICSUPER (14-weeks)
A
number of governments in the world do recognise the important role of
parenting and offer paid maternity leave. Paid maternity leave offered
in other countries includes:
Canada pays 50-weeks compulsory paid maternity leave Italy pays 47-weeks compulsory paid maternity leave UK pays 39-weeks compulsory paid maternity leave Japan pays 14-weeks compulsory paid maternity leave Sweden pays 18-months maternity leave Belgium pays 15-weeks maternity leave Switzerland pays 8-weeks leave Israel pays 12 weeks maternity leave
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