India Lauded For Maternity Protection At Work

International Labour Organisation (ILO) has lauded India for absolute prohibition of dismissal of a worker during maternity leave for any reason, and expressed concern over persisting discrimination against working women in many parts of the world.

Despite over 120 nations providing paid maternity leave and health benefits by law, working women who become pregnant are faced with threats of job loss, suspended earnings and increased health risks, said ilo conditions of work branch chief F J Day-hammer in a report from Geneva.

In most countries, womens income is vital for survival of the family, the report said, adding in India alone, about 60 million people live in households maintained solely by women.

 

ILO lauded 29 nations, most of them in Africa and Asia, that bar dismissal of a worker during maternity leave for any reason.

The US, Australia and New Zealand are major developed nations not providing paid maternity leave, it said.

Most advanced maternity leave laws are enacted by Denmark, Norway and Sweden, where husbands also can take a portion of the leave, the report maternity protection at work said.

Day-hammer said, loss of continuity in employment is a major handicap for womens career advance and is costly in terms of lost seniority, reduced pensions, paid annual leave and other job-related benefits.

In the U S, discrimination is prohibited against expecting women, women at childbirth or affected by a related medical condition, but only in firms with 15 or more workers, the report said.

Fifty-nine per cent of working women in Europe and 30 per cent worldwide supply over half of family income, it added.

Only 119 nations meet the 12-week maternity leave prescribed by ilos 1952 Maternity Protection Convention, with 31 countries permitting leave even less than 12 weeks, it said.

Sixty-two nations provide for 14 weeks or more, the report said adding the longest paid maternity leave of 28-week is provided by the Czech Republic, followed by Hungary - 24 weeks. India gives 12-week maternity leave to expecting women.

In some countries, leave may depend on the number of children already in the family, frequency of births, length of service or working hours, day-hammer said expressing concern that in Nepal, a woman may take just two maternity leaves in her working life.

She said working women in Denmark, France, Greece and Italy enjoy protection of maternity leave laws even if they do not inform their employers of their pregnancy in advance. This is, however, a must in countries like Australia and Austria.

ILO said the number of countries providing paid maternity leave has increased from 40 in 1952 to more than 100 today, but expressed concern that progress in maternity protection has not been uniform.

In eastern European nations, which provided extensive maternity benefits during communist rule, many health benefits have been cut due to economic restructuring, it added.

Special workplace protection is required for working women because pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal period are three main phases in a womans reproductive life in which special health risks exist, it said.

Without cash and health benefits, many women could not afford to take maternity leave, or might be forced to return to work before their health allowed, day-hammer added.

A 1996 report to the US Congress on family and medical leave policies found that 100 per cent of the women eligible for leave, who did not take it, said they could not afford it due to absence of cash or health benefits.

Maternity protection in the last 50 years has been marked by progress in law, an evolution in working environment and rising awareness towards the rights of working women during their child-bearing years, the ILO report said.

The report, however, expressed concern that laws provided little protection in societies where a large number of women work in the informal sector, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.