‘Maternity leave fund will have serious repercussions on business’ - GRTU

The General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU) have hit out at the mechanism behind the newly-launched national maternity leave fund, which every employer will have to pool into.

The GRTU argued that the scheme will require employers to pay twice for their employees’ maternity leave – by paying a 0.3% increase in contributions on all their employees as part of the scheme, as well as by paying their employees’ salaries while they are on maternity leave.

Although the latter will eventually be reimbursed by government through the fund, the GRTU warned that applying for such reimbursement will translate into additional paper work and lengthy payment periods.

“We are in favour of measures that increase the female participation rate in the economy and believe that this is an objective that should be supported collectively,” the GRTU said in a statement. “It is however also important to acknowledge that maternity leave has a big impact on businesses, especially small businesses.

“Maternity leave leads many small businesses to go through increased pressure having to make up for less human resources while still carrying the same wage cost. Some businesses go through more hardship because they need to find a replacement with the right skills and spend even more on wage costs to fill in this gap. Notwithstanding this however the process is embedded in businesses’ working practices and businesses cope with the situation the best way they can.”

The union added that the fund’s repercussions on businesses begged to be measured in an impact assessment and discussed in a consultation exercise that went beyond simply delivering a presentation.