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How the paid parental leave scheme discriminates against small business owners

Cara Waters

Emily Green had her first baby two months before Christmas and the jewellery designer says she didn't have any option but to keep on working and take her baby with her.  

"For us that's a really busy time of the year with all the markets and leading up to Christmas," Green says. "When you are a small business owner you just don't get to take a break."

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Paid parental leave decision 'shocking'

As reported in January 2016, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's policies leave '79,000 new parents... missing out on some of their paid parental leave,' says Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Vision ABC News 24.

When Green tried to take parental leave after Christmas her claim under the government's paid parental leave scheme was rejected.

The scheme allows for 18 weeks of leave for mothers paid at the minimum wage but the leave must be taken before returning to work, a requirement that is impractical for many small business owners like Green.

It's challenging enough running a business

Emily Green's business employs a staff of five and turns over an estimated $300,000 a year so Green says while she hired a studio manager to cover her "there are always things you need to do".

"I guess part of it is ignorance of the system but I just feel there is no way to inform yourself of the rules," Green says. "I thought you were allowed to take that time any time during the first year of the baby's life."

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Green says that when you are self-employed it is virtually impossible to take a clean break from your business when your baby is born.

"I feel that it is challenging enough to run a business and cope with that shift in lifestyle once you have a child," she says. "I was surprised but you just have to suck it up."

Do they not want women back in the workforce?

Tess McCabe also had her application for PPL under the government scheme denied. 

McCabe runs her own graphic design business and when she had her second child, based on her experience with her firstborn sleeping a lot in the first weeks of his life, she tried to keep on working and planned to take the leave a few months in. 

"I thought I would just take it some time in the first year and I thought it was within the rules; it turns out it wasn't," McCabe says.

"Because I was technically still working on my business for two hours a week I wasn't allowed this parenting payment," McCabe says. "It really frustrated me because it's just unfair and dumb."

The reasons they say they want people to take parental leave from day dot is things like bonding, but you can't tell me when to bond with my child.

Tess McCabe

McCabe, who also hosts parenting and business podcast The New Normal, says she believes accessing the PPL scheme is a real problem for sole traders, freelancers and small business owners.

"What do they want – for women not to get back into the workforce?," she says.

It's different for men

To add to the confusion the government scheme applies differently to men. 

McCabe's partner was able to claim a Dad and Partner Pay payment for two weeks' pay at the national minimum wage at any time within the first year of the babies' birth.

A spokesperson for Social Services Minister Christian Porter says the Dad and Partner Pay scheme "has a different objective to the PPL scheme and is not considered discriminatory". 

A 'discriminatory' scheme

​Prue Gilbert, founder of The Grace Papers, advises women on returning to work after having children and says the government's PPL scheme needs to be more flexible. 

"The reality is that it is discriminatory against business owners," she says. "When you are running your own business you need to be given the autonomy to make the decisions that are in the best interests of you and your baby."   

But Porter's spokesperson denies the scheme is discriminatory. 

"The PPL scheme allows people who are self-employed to do some work, as long as it is about overseeing the business or an occasional administrative task, such as paying an account or checking the delivery of an order," the spokesperson says. "This reflects the reality that some tasks are still needed to ensure the business can continue during their leave period."

However, if a self-employed person continues to do regular work within their business to earn an income they are ineligible for PPL.

"This ensures the scheme treats everyone equally, whether they are an employee or self-employed," the spokesperson says. 

The spokesperson says the PPL scheme allows mothers to "enhance the health and development of the child and establish routines".

"The PPL scheme has been developed on the best available evidence which says it is important mothers have the opportunity to spend the first few months of a baby's life at home with them."  

McCabe gives this argument short shrift. 

"The reasons they say they want people to take parental leave from day dot is things like bonding, but you can't tell me when to bond with my child," she says. 

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