News | Sunday, 10 May 2009

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Go on punk – make mother’s day

Government says no to extending maternity leave because of ‘concerns among the business community’

Matthew Vella
Malta is among four EU member states – Denmark, France and the UK – to have expressed reservations on extending maternity leave in a recent reform being proposed by the European Commission.
The government is not in favour of extending parental leave by four weeks to 18 because, according to a memorandum to parliament, it sees “considerable difficulties” due to the “current economic climate”.
The European Commission wants to improve the protection offered to pregnant workers and workers who recently have birth or are breastfeeding, by extending the minimum length of maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks.
The Commission argues that this helps mothers recover from the immediate effects of giving birth, and makes it easier for them to return to the labour market at the end of maternity leave. The directive also improves pregnant workers’ employment rights and contributes to a better reconciliation of work and family life.
As the law stands, women are entitled to 14 continuous’ weeks of maternity leave, and cannot be dismissed during this time. After maternity leave, women have the right to return to their same or equivalent post.
According to the government’s position however, extending maternity leave “does not appear to play an important part in attracting and retaining more women at work”.
The government says the extension cannot be considered as a measure to improve the health and safety of pregnant workers and admits this would raise “particular concerns amongst employers and the business community in Malta, particularly SMEs.”
It goes on to say that it feels “cautious not to lose out rather than gain” by extending maternity leave and that it should be dealt with at national, rather than EU level.

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