Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, [email protected]
HAVING a baby is a blessing, but it can disrupt the whole life plan, especially for employed women.
The solution for this is maternity and paternity leave, a period of absence from work granted to a mother or father before and after the birth of a child. In Zimbabwe, women are generally given 98 days of paid leave. During this period, a woman gets her normal work benefits and entitlements, including her rights to seniority or advancement and the accumulation of pension rights, according to the Labour Act.
The issue of maternity leave was topical at the recent stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Victoria Falls. Participants, mostly executives drawn from a cross-section of the economy nationwide, felt women were becoming less attractive to the industry because of the paid maternity leave.
They said employers were preferring to employ male staff whose paternity leave is short and unpaid, and in many cases, men rarely apply for such leave.
Participants proposed, and appeared to concur, on the need for the country to establish a maternity fund to be overseen by the State through the National Social Security Authority (Nssa). They said paid maternity leave was an unfair burden to the employer, hence the need for the State to bear the burden.
The issue started after a presentation by National Blood Service Zimbabwe chief executive Lucy Marowa on gender when she implored women to take up decision-making positions in the workspace. Marowa warned that society had created a very powerful girl and forgotten the boy child, who should also be included in gender discussions.
Participants called for the creation of a friendly family environment and noted that maternity leave was one of the issues to be addressed.
“Why should maternity leave be a burden for the employer? It should become a national issue and Nssa should set up a fund for maternity,” said one contributor.
Another participant suggested that the State should assume responsibility for maternity leave. “What is Nssa and the State doing than for the employer to pay the full cost of maternity leave? Paternity leave is unpaid for, so women are becoming unattractive to employers because of paid maternity leave. Men and women need to sit down and have a critical position,” said the participant.
Some organisations have policies that prohibit workers from becoming pregnant within their first two years of employment.
In a follow-up interview, Marowa stressed that it is a God-given nature for women to bear the brunt of pregnancy, not men, even though employers often find males more attractive to hire than females.
“But it’s also reality that it costs more for the organisation when a woman goes on maternity whether you replace her or not. As a result, even as I speak from a business leader’s perspective, if I am asked who is better to employ a man or a woman, the man is better because paternity is short and unpaid for and in this country few men go on paternity leave.
“Employers are saying you cannot employ someone today and in the next three months they go on maternity leave. So a man becomes attractive economically and from the business sense. Therefore we are saying the women, by virtue of who they are, they don’t have a choice as far as child birth is concerned but we cannot punish them because they have a gender issue which they have no control of.
“However, we can build this into the State and social fabric such that when they are doing their God-given role the State takes over to pay this woman because she is on maternity leave.
“The employers are saying the moment they hire somebody that person has become a liability for them until they prove their worth. They say there is no productivity from that person in the first years. So it’s really a business decision that’s why they put such polices. It is unfair for us women but from a business sense I totally understand where they are coming from,” said Marowa.
Maternity protection in Zimbabwe is provided under the Labour Relations Act, covering employed women in both the public and private sectors, as well as state employees and members of the public service.
Parliament recently passed the Labour Amendment Bill, which aims to remove the clause allowing termination of job contracts on notice. This bill grants employed women three months of paid maternity leave for each pregnancy, eliminating the one-year qualifying period and the limit of three terms of paid maternity leave. This is part of the Second Republic’s efforts to ensure full equality and rights for women and workers.
To qualify for paid maternity leave, a woman needs at least one year of service. This leave can be granted upon the production of a medical certificate and can only be granted three times for the same employer.
During maternity leave, a woman’s normal benefits and entitlements, including her rights to seniority or advancement and the accumulation of pension rights, must continue uninterrupted as if she had not gone on leave.
Government policy allows women to get pregnant as soon as they start work, and they are permitted to go on maternity leave after the previous policy of requiring 24 months of service was abolished. This change aligns the Labour Act with the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
Women employees have the right to fully paid maternity leave for at least three months. Section 18 (1) of the Labour Act states: “Unless more favourable conditions have otherwise been provided for in any employment contract or in any enactment, maternity leave shall be granted in terms of this section for a period of 98 days on full pay to a female employee who has served for at least one year.”
Maternity leave can be costly for employers, as they must pay the full salary of the employee on leave and also cover the salary of her replacement. Consequently, many women feel pressured to return to work and leave their new-born babies behind. − @ncubeleon.
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