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Collective bargaining for paid parental leave in Australia 2005–2010: A complex context effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Marian Baird  and
John Murray
Marian Baird*
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney Business School, Australia
John Murray
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney Business School, Australia
*
Marian Baird, The University of Sydney Business School, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: marian.baird@sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

In the period leading up to the federal government’s May 2009 announcement of a paid parental leave scheme, there was a surge in community and media debate about the absence of such a scheme in Australia. This article explores whether this context had some bearing on bargaining outcomes during that time. We analyse data from the Australian Workplace Agreements Database to determine the incidence and length of paid parental leave in collective agreements registered between 2005 and 2010. The results show an increase in the number of agreements that included paid parental leave clauses in the period, with just over 14% of all current agreements including a paid parental leave clause by 2010. Moreover, 18% of all agreements lodged in 2010 included a paid parental leave clause, suggesting an increase in bargaining outcomes over time. We also find a slight increase in the average duration of paid parental leave in collective agreements. A leave of 14 weeks is most common in public sector agreements but less than 3% of agreements in the private sector provide for 14 weeks or more. These marked differences between the public and private sectors suggest minimal change in private sector bargaining outcomes. We conclude that the legislative context does influence bargaining outcomes, but that this effect is felt more in public sector than private sector bargaining.

Keywords

J52J81J82collective bargaininglabour standards legislationpaid parental leavepublic sector employmentprivate sector employment conditionswork/familywork/life balance
Type
Symposium Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 25 , Issue 1: Symposium - Work, Workplaces and Industrial Relations , March 2014 , pp. 47 - 62
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2014

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