Green Labour and Employment Spokesperson Sue Bradford today said the Greens will move three amendments to the
Government's paid parental leave legislation when it comes into the House next week.
Speaking during the second reading debate in Parliament this afternoon, Ms Bradford said the Greens will move SOPs
seeking to extend the amount of paid leave from 12 to 14 weeks, to ensure that workers who have more than one employer
still qualify for paid leave, and to ensure women on paid leave do not incur interest on their student loans and do not
have to make loan repayments for the duration of the leave.
"The Greens really welcome the introduction of this legislation and we applaud the efforts of Laila Harre in making this
happen," said Ms Bradford.
"However from the Green perspective what is provided for in this legislation is the bare minimum that doesn't even meet
the ILO requirement of 14 weeks paid leave. As a result we will be seeking to strengthen and extend the legislation."
Ms Bradford said that with the level of paid leave so low it was unreasonable to expect students to continue to make
student loan repayments and it was also unfair for parents to incur debt during the period when they were off work.
"We also think workers who might work more than one job and have more than one employer during the year should qualify
for paid parental leave and we will be urging the Government to support our amendment to ensure they do."
Ms Bradford said the Greens were also concerned about the failure of the legislation to address the self employed and
would be looking for a commitment from Government to ensure that the 2003 review process will be doing serious work on
how paid parental leave could be functionally and effectively achieved for self employed workers in future.
"The Paid Parental Leave Bill is a great start, but we have a long way to go before New Zealand will be on a par with
many other developed countries in its treatment of working parents and their children."
Ends