NSW Land Registry Services has announced increased Paid Parental Leave provisions for staff.
The changes include higher entitlements for both primary and secondary carers and inclusion of superannuation continuity while on parental leave.
Employees are now entitled to:
- Increase of paid leave entitlements of primary carers to 20 weeks full-rate equivalent (up from 14 weeks)
- Increase of paid leave entitlements of secondary carers to 4 weeks full-rate equivalent (up from 1 week)
- Inclusion of superannuation contributions for primary and secondary carers while on paid parental leave
NSW Land Registry Services CEO, Brett Newman, said the changes were made to support an organisational focus on issues of diversity and inclusion, bringing policies in line with the NSW LRS Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging & Equity (DIBE) Strategy.
“At NSW LRS we recognise that issues of inequality can be reduced through design of a progressive and equitable paid parental leave offering, one that supports our employees when they become parents and we’re pleased to be taking steps to tackle long standing gender equality levers in the Australian employment market.”
Research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) suggests that increasing paid parental leave entitlements is an effective way of retaining valued staff and can assist employees to return to work after parental leave. Additionally, by including superannuation payments, gender-related inequalities driven by interrupted superannuation saving can be alleviated – this is a major factor contributing to the current situation in Australia where women will retire on average with 47% less super than men.