4 ms·

Well we can’t do anything about employers, that’s why relying on employers as a social net is ridiculous (what’s the % of people that have parental benefits fro

Well we can’t do anything about employers, that’s why relying on employers as a social net is ridiculous (what’s the % of people that have parental benefits from their employers? Surely a minority) This needs to be managed through the government. Quebec has done a good job at it. And yes, it can be used by either the father or the mother without any problem.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> Well we can’t do anything about employers You can, indeed, mandate equal practices by employers and enforce that requirement.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  The problem is smaller employers, which simply can't afford to shoulder the burden of paid maternity leave for 1 of their 10 employees. You can set up a graduated system like the UK has, where all employers have to pay and can reclaim a variable amount. But one way or another, any benefit the government won't foot the bill for is a benefit many parents won't get.
  - dleslie 6y ago
    Canada provides EI to those on parental leave; the "top-up" is a common compensation perk that employers offer to women, and rarely to men.
    - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
      Right, but the funding available for such a benefit is limited. If employers were required to offer the top-up to both men and women equally, I expect many companies on the smaller side would have to stop offering it to stay within their budget.
  - amyjess 6y ago
    Honestly, so many of the problems in our work culture is caused by small businesses who don't want to play by the rules that I'm okay with just letting them hang. This is the same argument that's used to justify lack of paid sick leave, lack of protections against discrimination (Title VII only applies to companies with 15 or more people), working people who don't have employer-provided health insurance, etc. Every single abuse a company can visit on its employees is magnified several times by small businesses. It's time for the government to decide that small businesses not playing by the rules are a net negative for society and just let them go.
    - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
      It's not a matter of willingness to play by the rules. A company with 5 employees is always going to struggle to handle a sudden 20% increase in labor costs, no matter how much its owner has good intentions. It's certainly consistent to say that everyone should just work for big businesses who can absorb these kinds of costs. But I think we have to acknowledge that this process, where regulations end up building a wall only big businesses can easily climb over, would be called "regulatory capture" in a different context. Government funding really seems to me like the better alternative.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> Well we can’t do anything about employers You can, indeed, mandate equal practices by employers and enforce that requirement.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
The problem is smaller employers, which simply can't afford to shoulder the burden of paid maternity leave for 1 of their 10 employees. You can set up a graduated system like the UK has, where all employers have to pay and can reclaim a variable amount. But one way or another, any benefit the government won't foot the bill for is a benefit many parents won't get.
- dleslie 6y ago
  Canada provides EI to those on parental leave; the "top-up" is a common compensation perk that employers offer to women, and rarely to men.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    Right, but the funding available for such a benefit is limited. If employers were required to offer the top-up to both men and women equally, I expect many companies on the smaller side would have to stop offering it to stay within their budget.
- amyjess 6y ago
  Honestly, so many of the problems in our work culture is caused by small businesses who don't want to play by the rules that I'm okay with just letting them hang. This is the same argument that's used to justify lack of paid sick leave, lack of protections against discrimination (Title VII only applies to companies with 15 or more people), working people who don't have employer-provided health insurance, etc. Every single abuse a company can visit on its employees is magnified several times by small businesses. It's time for the government to decide that small businesses not playing by the rules are a net negative for society and just let them go.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    It's not a matter of willingness to play by the rules. A company with 5 employees is always going to struggle to handle a sudden 20% increase in labor costs, no matter how much its owner has good intentions. It's certainly consistent to say that everyone should just work for big businesses who can absorb these kinds of costs. But I think we have to acknowledge that this process, where regulations end up building a wall only big businesses can easily climb over, would be called "regulatory capture" in a different context. Government funding really seems to me like the better alternative.