14-week maternity leave pledge

President of the People’s National Party (PNP), Mark Golding, wants the current maternity leave arrangements to be extended in keeping with the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Maternity Protection Convention, which mandates a minimum of 14 weeks with full pay but with a recommendation of 18 weeks in total.

The ILO mandated the increased maternity leave requirements from the year 2000.

Addressing party supporters at the 84th annual conference of the PNP at the National Arena in Kingston on Sunday, Golding said that Jamaica was among the 36 per cent of countries that remained non-compliant.

With many households headed by mothers who are in need of assistance, Golding said that “if we respect the Jamaican mother”, steps must be made to support her motherhood.

He said that Jamaica’s maternity leave arrangements have not changed since the PNP pioneered eight weeks of paid and four weeks of unpaid maternity leave in the 1970s.

“Time come to upgrade Jamaica’s maternity leave requirements to current international standards,” said Golding, using the slogan used in a plethora of conference speeches.

Arguing that fathers who partner with mothers also need support, Golding indicated that a PNP Government led by him would introduce legislation to create an entitlement to paternity leave with pay for fathers so men can bond with their newborn children and build stronger family life.

“We need to give real meaning to the concept of our nation as a Jamaican family,” he added.

Golding’s plan would span wider than the proposed changes to family leave entitlements for public-sector workers signalled by the Holness administration in July.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke revealed at a press conference that the Government was taking steps to increase maternity leave and introduce paternity leave.

He also indicated that the Government would provide leave for adoptive parents.

Clarke announced at the time that the administration would update the Public Sector Staff Orders of 2004 to increase maternity leave from 40 days to three calendar months.

He reported that the Government would also update the Public Sector Staff Orders of 2004 to introduce paternity leave, for the first time in the public service, for fathers of newborns, for a specific time and on specific terms.

The finance and public service minister said that to give effect to the changes, the appropriate circular would be sent to members of the public service by September 30.

He also promised to divulge the cost of the new leave entitlements later.

Clarke indicated that the Government’s action came out of the compensation restructuring exercise, which reviewed public-sector workers’ terms and conditions of service.