Women on paid parental leave may need retraining

Business New Zealand's caused plenty of surprise with its comment that extending paid parental leave may lead to women needing to be 'retrained' when they get back to work.

The comment came from the group's manager of employment policy Paul Mackay during a select committee submissions hearing on the bill.

Spokesperson for 26 for Babies Coalition, Deborah Morris-Travers, says women are more likely to return to work if paid parental leave is extended.

"Because they have a small infant, they are loyal and incredibly hard working employees because they need that income to be able to take care of their babies."

Families Commission chief executive, Paul Curry, says Mr Mackay's comment is a surprising one, and he'd like to know what it's based on.

"Our research shows directly from researches done by the Department of Labour that where paid parental leave is actually paid at a higher level you're more likely to keep your paid experience staff."

Mr Curry says workers who have children are valuable staff, and they pay off for employers.

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