Maternity and paternity leave in Malaysia need review urgently

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Maternity Protection Convention states that maternity leave should be at least 12 weeks (with 14 weeks being recommended) and most of its 183 member countries already comply with the minimum standard. Fewer than 30 countries do not and Malaysia is one of them.
When it comes to maternity leave, Malaysia is one of the few countries still at the bottom rung.
He may have one of the busiest jobs in the world but newly elected British Prime Minister David Cameron is currently on a few weeks’ paternity leave.
Last Tuesday, his wife gave birth to a daughter – their fourth child. And Cameron wanted to spend time to bond with his newborn, Florence Rose, and provide support for his recovering wife.
Well, for fathers in Malaysia, that can only be a dream. Their paternity leave is a miserable three days. And mothers here too don’t get a hot deal either. They get only 60 days’ maternity leave.
This comes as a bit of a shock as almost all other developed and developing countries (including Thailand, Indonesia, Singa¬pore, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) now offer at least 12 weeks or more.
Even countries like Afghanistan and Kenya give working mothers 90 days’ fully paid maternity leave (see 2009 statistics from the UN).
MTUC president Syed Sharir Syed Mohamud points out that it is important to view women as not just workers but also persons who contribute to the country by giving birth.
“It is an investment. This is the future generation we are talking about. It is very important for mothers to get time off to bond with and nurture the children from the time they are born.
“Employers should be holistic. They should consider their social and moral responsibility and not just think of profit margins. Provi¬ding more maternity leave is one of the most essential aspects of corporate responsibility,” he says.
Concurring, Solomon says that if developing countries like Indonesia and Thailand can give 90 days and developed countries like Singapore too can give 120 days for maternity leave, there is no reason why Malaysia can’t do the same.
“How much are companies spending on advertisement and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes?
“Let’s not become so materialistic and forget about values,” he adds.
But Shamsuddin points out that in many countries, it is not the employer who absorbs the total cost of the maternity leave; they have social security or a social insurance system in place that bears the cost.
He says that perhaps in Malaysia, the employer and employee could make a small monthly contribution for social insurance (something like Socso) and this could be used to cover maternity leave.
But since Malaysia does not yet have such a scheme, 90 days’ maternity leave is only a possibility if the Government is willing to pay the extra 30 days for private sector employees.