Public servants in the federal Communications and Arts department could lose weeks of paid parental leave for partners of women with newly-born infants under a workplace deal pushed by the federal government.
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The new workplace agreement put to the vote at the agency on Monday would change parental leave entitlements in a way the public sector union has warned would be a "disgusting backwards step" for parents.
But the department says it "at no time anticipated" 18 weeks' paid parental leave offered in its nearly-expired 2015 agreement would apply to partners of women with newborns.
The current agreement says parental leave is "available to an employee who is the birth mother of a child and employees who have or will have responsibility for the care of a child".
Employees who have responsibility for the care of their child can access 18 weeks' paid parental leave, if they are not eligible for maternity leave, the agreement says.
However the Department of Communications and the Arts said the paid leave was for the primary care giver in adoption or foster arrangements, and that this did not apply to "all staff".
The proposed new agreement, seen by Fairfax Media, removes parts of the expiring deal that describe paid parental leave for people not eligible for maternity leave, but supporting partners would still have access to four weeks' paid leave.
Paid concurrent leave of four weeks for partners is also available under the expiring agreement, which the department says shows it never intended to make 18 weeks' paid leave available to them.
"The wording in the proposed enterprise agreement has changed, however there is no change to the intent and application to the parental leave arrangements," a department spokeswoman said.
The public sector union blasted the agency over its proposed new agreement, which is up to a vote until Wednesday, saying it would stop parents from deciding who will be the primary care giver for their child.
Community and Public Sector Union deputy secretary Beth Vincent-Pietsch described the offer as a "disgusting backwards step".
"Management is seeking to strip away modern leave arrangements that reflect the modern world we live in, while giving workers nothing in return,” she said.
“This decision on family leave is adding insult to injury and has given workers another good reason to vote no to this dodgy offer."
Workplaces should let new families make their own decisions on who cares for newborns, Ms Vincent-Pietsch said.
“The Turnbull government has belatedly come to the table on providing family violence leave, but has quickly found another opportunity to attack working women."
Under the proposed agreement, which would cover staff until 2021, the department commits to supporting employees affected by family violence.
Corporate employers nationally are expanding paid leave for partners in a bid to make their offerings more attractive for parents.
At Medibank, either parent can claim paid parental leave and time away from work can be taken at the same time as the other partner or across two time periods.
Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt announced this year academic staff would receive 26 weeks of parental leave, regardless of whether they are the birth parent or the primary carer.
In the federal bureaucracy most major departments provide two to four weeks of paid leave for supporting partners with newly-born children.
