Phone chain faces discrimination suit

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a prosecution against a mobile phone retailer for allegedly discriminating against a Geelong employee when she attempted to return from parental leave.

Facing court is Tiger Telco Pty Ltd, which operates about 21 Mo’s Mobiles stores in South Australia and Victoria.

The employee had been employed as the manager of the Mo’s Mobile store in Corio for almost two years when she took unpaid parental leave in June, 2009, shortly before she had a baby.

The Fair Work Ombudsman claims that after the employee declined two offered positions because of her family responsibilities and asked to return to her previous appointment at the Corio store, the employer made the continuation of her employment conditional on her accepting one of the positions.

Do you think paid parental leave is going to be a good thing for small business? Or do you think it will be a nightmare in a regulatory sense for anyone who does not already have a procedure in place?