KUCHING: Extending maternity leave from 60 to 98 days is a positive step for women but it is important to evaluate its impact to avoid unintended consequences, such as reducing women’s hireability.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) economist Irma Yazreen Md Yusoff said the initiative is a great first step towards meeting the standard set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which recommends a minimum of 14 weeks maternity leave to ensure adequate rest and recovery time for mothers.
“This is a great initiative that supports women and their families,” said Irma, adding, “it is important for women to have adequate time to recover from childbirth and bond with their newborns.”
However, Irma warned that it is important to evaluate the impact of the policy and to put in place complementary measures to avoid unintended consequences, such as it making women less hireable.
“One of the biggest challenges for women who take maternity leave is the financial burden,” she said.
“If the leave is unpaid, it can be a real hardship for families. We need to make sure that women who take maternity leave are not penalised financially.”
Another challenge is the impact on employers.
“When an employee takes maternity leave, it can create disruptions and challenges for the rest of the team,” added Irma, pointing out the need to support employers in providing paid maternity leave.
According to her, there are a number of ways to address these challenges. One option is to introduce a shared payment scheme for maternity leave salaries between employers and social security organisations such as Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso).
“More than 123 countries provide fully paid maternity leave and health benefits,” Irma pointed out, noting that in many cases, these benefits are covered by the government or shared between the employer and the government.
Another option is to offer tax relief or exemption for every employee taking maternity leave.
Additionally, it is also important to create family-friendly workplaces that enable mothers to maintain their productivity and performance.
This could include providing on-site childcare facilities, breastfeeding breaks, designated rooms for breastfeeding mothers, flexible work arrangements, equal opportunities for career advancement, inclusive workplace cultures that value and support working mothers, and resources to help employees transition back to work after their leave.
“By taking these steps, we can ensure that increasing maternity leave is a positive step for women, families and businesses in Sarawak,” she added.
