Work and Family Balancing work and family life is essential for the wellbeing of our whole community and yet it is a balancing act that is becoming increasingly difficult. The need for support for workers with caring responsibilities has increased as more mothers enter the workforce, and more elderly and people with chronic illness and disabilities are being cared for at home. Unions believe that workplaces, through practical measures by employers and policies by government, must provide employees with flexible work practices which allow them to balance work and family life. Union workplaces lead the way Unions work hard to make life better for workers and their families. We’ve helped deliver the 8 hour working day, weekends, four weeks of paid annual leave, sick leave, family leave and parental leave. These improvements in people’s working conditions are generally won first by unions in a small number of workplaces where workers collectively bargain with their employer. Unions then campaign to lift standards across the workforce, as we have done recently with paid parental leave. In recent years unions have led the way to provide parents with paid leave when they have a baby and more options to take time off after the birth of a child or to come back to work part time if they choose. Unions have also campaigned hard to improve access to quality childcare that is affordable for working families. Paid parental leave In 2009, Australian unions achieved a great breakthrough for working parents with the Federal Government announcing funding for paid parental leave. Australian unions first won all working mothers a right to 12 months unpaid maternity leave in 1979. After more than 30 years of campaigning, working parents will now get almost $10,000 financial support when they need it most – after the birth of a child. From 1 January 2011, a new Government paid parental leave scheme will provide all eligible working parents with 18 weeks payment at the Federal Minimum Wage. Family Provisions Case The ACTU successfully won better working conditions for working families through the ground-breaking Work and Family Test Case in 2005. The case achieved a set of new significant rights in industrial awards for all Australian workers with caring responsibilities, including: Extra unpaid parental leave after the birth of a child — from 12 months to up to 24 months if parents request it. A right for parents to request flexible working hours or part-time work until their children are at school and a corresponding obligation on employers to consider such requests. Access to family emergency leave for all employees including casuals. Personal/carer’s leave as a minimum standard of employment to apply to all employees. These gains were short-lived however when the Howard Government introduced its unfair WorkChoices IR laws in 2006, which severely limited the award safety net. Recent ‘Fair Work’ laws introduced by the Rudd Labor Government have restored these union gains for working families. Key facts Around 5 million working Australians have caring responsibilities. More mothers are returning to work with younger children than ever before.  In 1979 when maternity leave was introduced very few mothers returned to work before their child was at school. Today  35 per cent of mothers have returned to work by the time their child is 12 months, and about a half of mothers are back at work by the time the child is 2 years old. Changes to labour force and families, including increased dual income and sole parent families means that most children live in households where all the adults work. Parents of young children face extreme time pressure, particularly mothers of children under 5 years who are working full time, and this has a negative impact on family wellbeing, including children’s wellbeing. 35 per cent of mothers of children under 12 are employed casually, and have no paid sick leave or carer’s leave. The benefits of flexible work practices which allow people to balance work and family life include higher employment through an increase in workforce participation by mothers and carers, enhanced productivity through the retention of skilled workers after the birth of child and greater gender equity through quality part time work for parents rather than casual work. What’s next Unions are campaigning for: Greater workplace flexibility and support for workers who need to care for older family members or people with a disability. Paid paternity leave. Employers to provide greater support for new parents through a top up of maternity to workers’ ordinary wages, payment of superannuation contributions and provision of other leave entitlements. Reduced gender pay inequity, greater career opportunities for women, and increased access to quality part time jobs.