Tony Abbott’s Coalition through Bruce Billson, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs will introduce legislation to cut red tape and compliance burden for small business under Labor Government’s paid parental leave scheme.
The Coalition will introduce a Private Members’ Bill into Parliament seeking to have Centrelink’s Family Assistance Office directly make payments to workers eligible for paid parental leave payments.
The Opposition objects to Labor’s paid parental leave scheme requiring employers to act as ‘pay clercks’ to handle Government funded payments for eligable employees. Currently under Labor’s paid parental leave scheme Centrelink administer payments for the first six ‘transitional’ months of the scheme, with the employer taking over from that point for the remaining months.
“The Government has failed to offer any compelling reason for forcing on employers pointless ‘PPL pay-clerk’ responsibilities while employers face increased red-tape and costs of revising pay systems, receiving and reconciling Government instalments, and passing on payments.” said a statement from Mr Billson.
Small businesses face the highest compliance burden with the Government’s paid parental leave scheme, with additional administrative hurdles necessary to ensure correct payment in accordance with the scheme.
“These needless costs, red-tape burdens and compliance risks are particularly problematic for smaller employers without dedicated payroll staff.”
“No State or Territory has taken additional action the Government said would expressly exempt paid parental leave payments from the calculation of payroll tax and workers compensation, and the question of additional employer superannuation liabilities has simply been deferred.” said the statement from Mr Billson.