Letters to the Editor
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@I envy us
Companies allow this because it's the law. Woman goes on maternity leave she gets a year off, or she can take six months and the husband can take six months for paternity leave (how's that for enlightened!).
Who pays for it? both the company and the government (well all of us in reality through taxes).
Do people pick up the slack? Sometimes yes, but most often a company will hire people to cover for the maternity leave. If it's a profession (say nursing or occupational therapy for instance) it's actually pretty great for younger people to get their foot into the door.
and whether the job is important is a moot point - it's the law. Sure there are people who could theoretically abuse this system - by say, getting a new job while they know they're pregnant, but these types of things are kind of inevitable, and besides, it's not really a good way to get ahead in your career when you get back now is it?
Our former Liberal government implemented this about 5 years ago (or so I recall)...and we ain't gone broke yet ;)