THE federal Labor government, in the early days of its term, has quickly legislated to expand the domestic violence leave provisions to apply to all businesses ('Entitlement for survivors', Newcastle Herald 29/7). Whilst this has great social merit, it's not without significant costs and impact, especially on the "engine room" of the national economy: small businesses.
It's very easy to legislate where you have no skin in the game, and force someone else to pay. My view is that the costs should ultimately come from the general tax revenue base, not individual employers.
