maternity leave increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks

maternity leave increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks

maternity leave increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks

BJP government is considering a proposal to increase the maternity leave for working women from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks. In this proposal made regarding 12 weeks of maternity leave for who use surrogates to bear a child and  as well as for working women adopting a baby. The Labour ministry held a meeting with all the trade unions & the employers for discussing the amendment bill to extend the maternity leave benefits to natural, commissioning and adopting mothers. 

As per Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, a working woman at present is entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave out of which six weeks are before the expected date of delivery. Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi had proposed to increase the maternity leave to 28 weeks and held discussions with the labour minister. In the meeting unanimously decided that maternity leave for natural mothers should be extended from the existing 12 to 26 weeks. While WCD ministry believes that extending leave for expecting mothers will directly benefit the new born child and positively impact nutritional levels, there are apprehensions that such long duration of leave might make a woman employee unemployable. Govt has firmed up plans to increase the maternity leave for working women from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

Besides, there are also plans to provide 12 weeks of maternity leave to commissioning mothers for who use surrogates to bear a child and for working women adopting a baby and adopting mothers should get a maternity leave of 20 weeks.

maternity leave increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks

Parental leave in New Zealand

The New zealand govt has increased the maternity leave as parental leave to 18 weeks. In this the basic information about the rights and obligations of employees, employers and self-employed people in respect of parental leave. 

 It contains the current parental leave entitlements, featuring statutory paid parental leave for birth mothers, their partners, as well as adoptive parents. Changes to parental leave Paid parental leave has been extended from 14 to 16 weeks from 1 April 2015.

The extension is one of two steps to extend paid parental leave to 18 weeks by 1 April 2016.

From 1 April 2015, the parental tax credit has increased from $150 a week to $220 a week, and the payment period was extended from eight weeks to 10 weeks. The Government has proposed further changes to parental leave provisions that are intended to come into effect on 1 April 2016. 

Extending parental leave payments to non-standard workers (such as casual, seasonal, and employees with more than one employer) and those who have recently changed jobs Extending entitlements to ‘primary carers’, such as Home for Life parents, grandparents and others with permanent care arrangements. Enabling employees to take the leave more flexibly, by mutual agreement with the employer.

 MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) has recently completed public consultation on the proposed changes and received almost 900 submissions. Overall, submitters (employers and employees alike) were positive about the proposals to modernise parental leave provisions. All these changes will be reflected in an Employment Standards Bill which will be introduced to Parliament this year. 

The Bill will go through a normal select committee process including public submissions before it is passed into law. Before the new law comes into force, MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) will develop an information and education plan to inform businesses, including small businesses, and workers of the changes.